The New Girl
by Vaurn
Summary: Who really likes high school? Personally, I'd always thought it was a waste of life until a particularly fine specimen walked through the doors of Garderobe High and helped me turn the student body upside down. ShizNat. AU. OOC.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I'd planned to finish the next chapter for my other story tonight and get the flippin' thing posted, but I'm in the wrong mood to write something so serious. As my brother so eloquently put it, I'm acting pretty nuts tonight. To vent out the excitement and hopefully get down to business, I started this fic! Got to say that I had a total blast, and I fully intend to keep going with it when the mood strikes me.

Also note that the story shouldn't be taken seriously at all. It's totally for fun and fairly out of character. Fic's rated M for future chapters, even though it isn't bad right now. Self proofed. The entire writing process wasn't even a whole night, so don't expect Shakespeare.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Mai Hime/Otome or any of the songs in this story.

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No one enjoys the daily grind.

Get up in the morning at some ungodly hour, get ready for school, roll up in your piece of crap car and thank God that your drivers side door still hasn't fallen off. Walk up the sidewalk to school and hope nothing embarrassing befalls you on your way to class. Listen to teachers rattle off about something you couldn't care less about. Go home and do more work that your teachers couldn't fit into their damn hour of torture. Go to sleep earlier than you would've liked only to start it all over again. Mmm'boy.

One day, my friend and I decided we were sick of it.

Being the rebels of the school, we kept pretty much to ourselves. Not too many people approached us and we likewise kept our distance. We'd often scoff at conformity, thinking it was the most useless thing on the planet, and made fun of all the people that looked exactly the same. We'd often dress differently from everyone else, exaggerating our appearances to look totally off key. All black was often the way to go.

Melancholy and sarcastic was the name of the game. To be kind was to give in the fight. Friends? Who needs those? We had each other, that was often more company than either of us cared to have. Be a bitch to all within earshot? Check. Detentions and near expulsions? Another name for victory!

One day, we realized that our nonconformity was just another form of conformity. That was the same day we realized that we were screwed! To conform was the same as not to, so what is one to do if they just hate society and what the world is as a whole?

Ah, but the answer is so obvious, my friends. Do whatever the fuck you want!

And so, that's how we've come to where we are today. Tires screeching into the student parking lot in classic "I don't give a fuck" fashion; sound system I'd installed into my bike playing my current obsession: I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) by Pitbull. Definitely an interesting way to pull into school on a blissfully-boring Monday morning. Considering the mixture of scoffs and approving looks my friend and I were shot as we shed ourselves of our helmets and dismounted my beast of a bike, I would imagine it's safe to say we'd made an impression on the poor masses of our tedious little high school.

Unlike the full black you would've seen us in last year, the two of us now dressed as we pleased. My redheaded companion wore sinfully-appealing jean shorts and a blood-red camisole that complimented her hair nicely. She'd dawned a pair of khaki-colored flats to finish off the look. Over all, she was a sexy vixen. Plenty of girls admired her foxy look and many guys lusted after her well-kept body.

While my light-green eyed friend was of the flirtatious style, I enjoy a more boyish style, though I make sure to compliment my feminism with every outfit. Today's pick was a pair of guy's jeans; a tight-fitting, quarter-length-sleeved, blue top with a V-neck; and my favorite black and blue Converse.

"I think we've successfully brightened up their mornings, Zhang." I commented to my slender companion, making eye contact with a few of the people who watched us pull up. I took our helmets and threw them into the seat compartment before beginning the long trek across the parking lot to the school's doors

"I'd be staring too," Nao Zhang said with a smirk as she walked alongside me. "My ass looks damn nice in these."

I couldn't help but chuckle at how modest the damn redhead was. "I'd tap that."

Her light-green eyes turned to fix my dark-green ones with a look. She was sneering. "As if I would lower my standards that far." She was trying her best to sound serious, but we both knew she was just kidding around. That was what was so great about Nao: Despite knowing about my preference towards the female anatomy, she always played along with my jokes, being aware that I couldn't imagine feeling anything of the sexual nature towards her. She may be a caustic little wench, but she was pretty understanding.

"That's right, I forgot that Duran's more to your taste," I retorted.

"You know I love the fur."

Now that reply made me cringe; my splendidly-overactive imagination making short work of burning some very scarring images into my mind.

"The wet noses help too," Nao put in, no doubt seeing my paling expression.

"Oh God!" I couldn't help but let out the exclamation. I would've never thought the images could've gotten _worse_. "Shit, we're done! Ugh, Zhang that's disgusting. I'm never leaving you alone with my dog ever again."

"Your dog? I thought we were talking about that stuffed animal on your bed," Nao replied in mock confusion.

"What're you doing with my… wait… how would a toy have… a wet… nose…." Sometimes having a good imagination sucks. "Do you have a knife on you? I'd like to gouge out my eyes."

Nao's arms went up and she examined her person. "Where would I hide a knife?"

"In that fat ass of yours."

"You're free to check if you'd like." Nao said, stopping and moving to bend over.

"I'd get lost in there. Hurry up, we're wasting time." The last thing I wanted to do was reach into my friend's ass, so I didn't even stop when she did.

Nao jogged up next to me and shot me a smirk. "But Kruger, you said you'd tap that. You just missed your chance."

"I said 'tap', not 'dive into'."

Nao shoved my shoulder, making me stumble to the side. I shot her a grin as I caught myself. She had her own smirk on her face. "Lucky for you murder's illegal. Your ass would be in gutter."

We reached the school doors, me being in the lead I opened the door and walked through, trying to pull the portal closed before Nao could get in. The redhead was too quick, however, and caught the handle with a hand before I could close the door. She flung the door open and I picked up my pace a bit, knowing she'd do something in retaliation.

"That's right, run Kruger! You know I'm too much for you!"

"Your ass alone is too much for me!" I shouted back. Oh the maturity. That's when my phone started vibrating in my pocket. I pulled it out as I slowed my walk so Nao could catch up. I heard her footsteps come alongside me as I flipped open the device. Just as I clicked to read the message, I felt a heavy smack on the back of my head, causing my neck to bend with the blow.

"Ow, shit." A free hand went up to rub the smarting spot as I glared at Nao.

"Got a text?" Nao asked, acting totally innocent.

I let the hit go, remembering I did indeed have a text. I looked back to the phone to find a message from Chie. All it said was, "hurry up."

"That's weird," I said, turning the screen for Nao to see. "Wonder what she wants."

Nao shrugged and picked up the pace a bit. "No doubt some juicy gossip. Hurry up."

Mistake Number 1: Hit Natsuki upside the head. Mistake Number 2: Turn your back to Natsuki directly after hitting her upside the head. It was on.

I caught up to her only to smack her twice as hard as she'd hit me. She stumbled, almost tumbling to the ground, and cursed before looking up at me with killing intent as she rubbed her head. I tried so hard to not laugh, I really did. It just came out. As such, we came upon Chie and Aoi in the same spot that we always met at. I was in the lead, running for my life from a very pissed redhead. It probably didn't help matters that I'd been laughing uproariously the entire way there.

"Fucking got her good," I explained shortly as I came up next to Chie and Aoi, wheeling around to take my friend head on.

I'd expected her to slow down and try to hit me, or maybe even cuss me out. I _way_ underestimated her. She full on flying-tackled me to the ground. Everyone in the hall stopped what they were doing at the sounds of the ensuing tussle and turned to the sight of a furious Nao trying to get a shot in at me. We had a crowd around us pretty damn quick, with Chie's phone out and recording the whole thing. I managed to push the flailing redhead off me, making her fall onto her back.

Like I'd waste a good opportunity to get some revenge. I jumped at her with menacing intentions. We started wrestling, laughing and jeering at one another playfully, not caring in the least about the crowd as they egged us on; half of them thought we were seriously fighting and the other half either weren't sure what was going on or knew that we were just having fun at this point.

"Make like the Red Seas and part! Move it!" A voice called, cutting through the chanting like a knife. Nao and I stopped in our tussle immediately and shot each other a panicked look. We both stood up and tried to look as natural as one could with a crowd of drooling idiots ringed around you. A familiar flash of red hair, tamed down by a ponytail, had us both sighing in relief as the crowd quickly dispersed.

"Ms. Sugiura! How splendid to see you this fantastic Monday morning!" Nao called with a completely painted-on smile. "To what do we owe the wonderful pleasure?"

"If only you greeted me like that every morning, I might've let you two walk off." Midori Sugiura flicked her eyes over to Chie, who was trying to save her new video and hide her phone at the same time. "Hallard, phone," she demanded, holding out her hand to the rumormonger.

"Dang," the dark-haired girl grumbled under her breath as she handed over her most-prized possession.

Midori took the phone and clicked on it for a moment before staring intently at the screen. Sounds not unlike those that had been rising in the air minutes ago came from the phone as our teacher slowly started grinning. "Oh, you got her good there, Zhang." A few more moments of silent watching before an, "ouch! Though that hurt just to watch, nice one Kruger."

Comments like that continued, while Nao and I traded knowing looks. Midori was easily the coolest teacher in the school, and she absolutely adored the two of us. I couldn't imagine getting in trouble from her unless I had a bomb strapped to my chest or something. When the eldest redhead was done, she was laughing as she handed Chie her phone back.

"Not bad, though I'm not sure who won. I'm gonna have to call a tie," the teacher said with a grin. "Oh, and don't let it happen again."

"Yes ma'am," Nao and I said in unison.

"Carry on," Midori said with a mock salute before marching down the hall.

I breathed a sigh of relief while Nao turned about to question Chie. "So what did you have us rushing over for, before all the fun?"

"There's a brand new transfer student starting today," Chie explained as she closed her phone.

"Umm… so?" I asked, not really seeing what was so exciting about some new kid.

"You don't understand," Aoi exclaimed as Chie flipped open her phone and started clicking away on it. "She's really pretty, with an interesting accent."

"So?" I asked again. Pretty girls weren't exactly a rarity; we went to a big high school.

Chie shoved her phone in my face, and I finally saw what the big deal was. A few people were in the picture, but it was obvious who the transfer student was. The picture was to the side, the girl only slightly turned toward the camera. Despite the bad angle, however, I could make out her face and body perfectly.

She wasn't pretty, she was drop-dead gorgeous! A thin figure that was curved dramatically in all the right places; golden-brown hair with a perfect balance of volume and wave; good taste in clothes, dressed in hip-hugging jeans and a simple, red blouse with a few of the buttons unfastened to show off her generous chest, covered only by a white undershirt; all topped off by the most unbelievably-red eyes I'd ever seen.

"Holy crap… she's hot," Nao noted from beside me, snapping me back to reality.

"Isn't she? Ow!" Chie rubbed her head where Aoi had smacked her. "Not that I care," she quickly defended, shooting her girlfriend a charming smile.

Nao made the sound of a whip snapping as she imitated the gesture. I sniggered at my companion, agreeing wholeheartedly.

"Any idea what her name is or what year she is?" I asked, already knowing that Chie had an answer.

"Shizuru Viola. She's a senior like us. I've got her schedule if you'd like," Chie rattled off, a proud smile on her face.

"How 'bout her sign?" Nao joked.

"Sagittarius," Chie's prideful look grew, if that was even possible.

"Damn, are you a gossip or a stalker?" Nao asked, looking mildly creeped out.

"You asked. Don't question if you don't want to know!" The dark-haired girl retorted.

I was only half listening to exchange, of course. I was going over the compatibility of a Sagittarius and a Leo in my head, wishing I'd looked into more of those stupid sign things. The thought was fleeting, for I snapped myself back into reality quickly. There's no way I'd be so lucky as to have the hot transfer student end up digging chicks. Life wasn't that convenient.

"What's her schedule?" I asked suddenly, before I could think about what I was doing.

Chie pocketed her phone and pulled out a folded paper to shove into my hand. "I thought you'd never ask," she said, shooting me a wink.

The meaning of that wink didn't escape me. Chie knew my sexual preferences, so no doubt she'd counted on my interest in such a head turner. I caught myself blushing, realizing my friends could probably read through my actions like a book. Sometimes I wish I was more subtle.

I moved to pocket the package and look at it later. Thankfully, Nao groaned when she saw me starting to do so. "I'm curious. Don't be selfish, Kruger."

"Sorry," I mumbled trying to sound uncaring. I ended up pulling my hand out of my pocket a bit more quickly than I would've liked and ripping open the paper with obvious interest.

We gazed down at the paper a minute before Nao piped in, "she's got classes with both of us."

I nodded, feeling a grin tugging at my lips. "Yeah she does."

The redhead and I exchanged looks, Nao's expression being very impish as she examined my doubtlessly excited-looking face.

The bell rang then, signaling for the four of us to disperse. We all exchanged goodbyes, all three of my friends giving me purposeful looks that I decided to ignore, before parting ways. I tried to reign in my hope as I pushed through the ridiculously-crowded hallways to my first hour. I reminded myself time and time again that the chances that this new girl was a lesbian were slim to none, but I couldn't help but feel that today was going to be a damn fine day.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Let me reiterate that this story isn't supposed to be taken seriously. Just warning you for some of the stuff that's in here. Don't hurt me?

Got to say, you guys floored me with the reviews. Thanks so much to all of you! You guys are the shit! I'll get right to replying soon as this is posted.

Self proofed, once over, you all know the drill. Oh... and... err... **spoiler warning** for the play Macbeth by Shakespeare? I dunno, what's in here is kind of common knowledge, but I thought I should throw that one out there just in case. You'll know when it's coming, if you did wanna skip that part.

The song Natsuki's listening to is Sexy Bitch - David Guetta ft. Akon, in case you're curious. Oh, and I'm sure I grouped the lyrics incorrectly, so I'm sorry about that.

**To the anonymous reviewers:**

**kiangs:** Great to hear you liked the first chapter! I'm just crossing my fingers hoping the second one meets with the same approval. Thanks so much for the review! Here's the "more" you requested, hope you enjoy.

**Anon1:** I love writing Nao/Natsuki dialogue. It just flows so naturally. It almost rivals writing Shizuru/Natsuki stuff… _almost_. Thanks for the encouraging review! Hope you like this chapter as well.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Mai Hime/Otome or any of the songs in this story.

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I sat back in my desk, staring down at the textbook in front of me. On the outside, I'm sure I looked like I was reading as per the instructor's instruction. Reality had a different story. I was actually jamming out to my iPod, one ear bud in my ear, the wire hid behind my long hair and tucked under my shirt all the way down to my pocket.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I would occasionally examine the new girl, Shizuru Viola. She'd introduced herself at the beginning of class. Standing up from her desk up at the front of the class, she'd turned around to address the pathetically-sleepy students with a bright smile. The girl, who admittedly was more of a woman, looked a hundred times better in the flesh than she had in that picture.

Let me tell you, she looked damn fine in the picture too.

It was all I could do to stop myself from undressing her with my eyes. Those jeans were tantalizingly tight on her! What's a chick supposed to do when she can see the fucking zipper on those pants, just begging to be taken between my teeth and ripped down?

There's plenty of things my mind had decided it wanted to do to her with my teeth. Sometimes, even Nao would blush like a nun watching porn at some of the shit I think. Of course, it all stays in my head. The last thing I'd need is being known as a raging perverted lesbian with an odd obsession for doing weird shit with my teeth.

But we're getting off topic! The point is that Shizuru Viola is a sexy, sexy seductress. She wasn't carrying herself like she's easy or looking for a good time, mind you. She's just a confident woman, and holds herself well. Self-assured women like her scare a lot of guys off; they think they don't stand a chance if a girl's fine and she knows it. Viola obviously knows she's got it going on, but don't get me wrong; she didn't act conceited in her short little introduction, just radiated poise. I couldn't keep my eyes off her the entire time. I think there's something irresistible about a girl who's comfortable with herself.

And that voice. Oh God her voice! She sounded like candy-coated sex, if it's even possible to sound like candy-coated sex. I'm pretty sure my ears had an orgasm. Have your ears ever had an orgasm? If not, you've never heard Shizuru Viola talk. You should remedy that problem sometime, because she sounds like candy-coated sex.

Have I mentioned she's sexy yet? No? Well she is.

Now Shizuru Viola sat in all her glory, legs crossed as she worked. She looked focused, but not like she was straining in any form of the word. There was an easiness to how she sat, like she was on an untouchable peak where nothing could phase her. The music pumping into my ear became more noticeable while I silently observed.

_She's nothing like a girl  
You've ever seen before  
Nothing you can compare  
To your neighborhood whore_

I smiled in amusement, thinking, for what wasn't the first and surely not the last time, that the shuffle option on my MP3 was hypersensitive to my moods. My heel started clicking onto the hard floor of its own volition while I silently appraised the masterful being sitting three seats in front and one to the right of me. That's right, I counted. Three times.

_I'm tryna find the words to describe this girl  
Without being disrespectful_

Shizuru suddenly stood up and spun on her heel to look right at me. My eyes flew open in surprise at the sight of rubies piercing right into me. She took one step, then another, and another, until she was right next to my desk. I blinked a few times up at her picturesque face before swinging my gaze around the room to see how everyone else was reacting. I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked around I saw that no one was even paying any attention to us.

_The way that booty moving  
I can't take no more  
Have to stop what I'm doing  
So I can pull her close_

Instead of feeling like it was helping me along, now it just felt like the music was mocking me. But then the chestnut-haired babe sat down on my desk, smiling in that sweet, seductive way she seemed to have mastered. No joke, my jaw dropped. She giggled with an arousing lilt in her voice and moved her hands to the buttons on her blouse as she bit down on her bottom lip.

_I'm tryna find the words to describe this girl  
Without being disrespectful._

Fuck, I swear to God I started drooling when her delicate fingers undid the top most button. My own fingers itched to wrench her hands away from her blouse and continue her work with my teeth. Damn, those teeth again. Apparently, it never occurred to me that it was weird as shit for a random chick to waltz her perfectly-shaped ass over to me and give me a strip tease in the middle of class. That's the kind of thing that happens everyday, you know?

_Damn girl  
Damn you'se a sexy bitch  
A sexy bitch  
Damn you'se a sexy bitch_

Just when I couldn't take it anymore, just when I was going to tackle her to the ground and take her right there in the middle of class, a voice cut through my mind and ended my daydream just before the best part.

"Alright," my instructor, Mr. Sakomizu, said loudly, standing up from his seat at his desk at the front of the class, making me look up at him. "Can anyone please summarize the act you just read?"

I mentally groaned. Everything was back to normal. My immediate vicinity was chickless, the transfer student was in her desk, and those crimson eyes were just out of sight. Damn it all.

No volunteers were forthcoming to summarize. After a moment of silence, the teacher's eyes flashed around before landing on me. The wicked smile on his face could only be described as vengeful. "Kruger, how about you?"

My immediate response was to tell him that the incident with the sticky note on his door saying "Meet in the library" wasn't entirely my fault, since the kids actually fell for it. I brushed that one aside, however, and decided to take a quick glance down at the chapter name to see if it would be of some assistance. I was fully aware, as I looked down, that all eyes were on me at this point.

I realized for the first time we were just starting to read Macbeth. I scraped at my mind to remember what the play was about, but in the end I could only remember one thing. "Everyone dies."

A few people made their amusement know aloud, but my teacher did not look nearly as pleased. "Yes, well, technically you're right. I just want to know what happens in Act One, however."

"Err…" my eyes glanced down the page to the picture on the side. I just decided to start pulling shit out of my ass and pray my mistakes would just be tallied up to mistranslation of the text. "The Captain guy dies, some witches eat a goat head, and Macbeth proposes to his girlfriend?" The pictures really weren't helping. My green eyes glanced up to see if the new girl was among my observers. Her eyes locked with mine for the first time, and I felt my heart stop at being caught looking up at her.

I quickly turned my eyes away, up to Mr. Sakomizu to see he was smirking in triumph at catching me off guard. "Maybe you should actually read the material I assign, Ms. Kruger."

I made a mental note to rent the movie sometime, but let the comment go without verbal reply. I didn't want this Shizuru girl to think I was bad news after my very first class with her. Couldn't care less if she thought I was a slacker, though, since it was true.

Another student answered the question to much greater accuracy, but I wasn't actually listening anymore. I was thinking of ways to get back at my asshole of a teacher. Super gluing his whiteboard markers to their holders seemed like a good choice, then replace his spares with permanent markers. I made another mental note to stop by a store after school.

I looked up and chanced a glance at the transfer student to see she was again paying attention to the teacher. At least one good thing came of my shitfest with Sakomizu: Shizuru now knew I existed, even if it was as 'that one idiot in my English class.'

I was beyond relieved when the bell rang, signaling the end of class. I knew I had my next class with Shizuru as well, and I may have offered to show her where it was if not for the fact that a certain blonde Student Council President beat me to it.

Haruka Armitage, the bane of my existence. Maybe if I wasn't so… well acquainted with her (Paraphrase: She was in charge of more than one of my detentions.) I would've gotten along with Haruka alright. As it stood, I actually respected the woman, since she was one of the few people that knew who she was and acted as a unique individual rather than a mindless sheep. Unfortunately, she just saw me as "the delinquent with the loud bike." If you didn't infer properly from that, that means she thinks I'm a retard with a penchant for getting in shit. She's not far off, sadly.

Okay, maybe not "sadly." I happen to think my life is the shit, but that's not the point.

The point is that Shizuru was whisked away by our high school's top student and I ended up trailing behind them out of the classroom. I was so focused on following the pair that I forgot that I was supposed to be on constant lookout for flying shit. Don't worry, kids, I was punished for my negligence.

"Natsuki Kruger!"

By this girl! My body turned to ice the second I heard that voice. So hauntingly familiar, so nostalgic, so utterly terrifying! In hindsight, things would've gone just fine if I'd stopped and turned to meet my fate head-on, or at least turn my head and acknowledge the newcomers existence. As it stood, I did the absolute worst thing I could have, save for random stabbings: I kept walking as if I hadn't even heard her. Even Haruka, who was directly in front of me talking with Shizuru, looked over her shoulder to shoot an inquiring glance at the noisemaker. I didn't, heaven forbid.

Oh, the mistakes we make.

Have you ever been playing tag and the hairs on the back of your neck let you know that the predator is getting ever closer. Yeah, I remembered how terrifying that feeling was when I was trying to get away from her in that hall.

"Natsuki! Stop and look at me, damn it!"

Oh shit was the repetitive thought as those words rang clearly down the crowded hall. She _never_ cursed. I was so in for it. I just kept praying that the crowd behind me was too thick for her to get to me. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt a hand land on my shoulder, fingers gripping me with painful intensity.

I slowly turned my head, hoping beyond hope that if I took too long to look at her she would just leave. When my eyes locked with very pissed violet orbs I considered the damages to my reputation if I were to just break down and crumple to the floor in tears in the middle of the hall.

"Oh, Mai," I choked out, "long time no see! How've you--" I never finished the statement, because she slapped me right across the face. The sound of the smack actually broke through the loud hum of chatter in the hall.

Natsuki Kruger: Causing scenes in the middle of the hallway since the winter of '08. That's right folks, for the second time in only a few hours I had the undivided attention of an entire hall.

"You asshole!" Mai roared at me. "Do you know how much grief you put me through? Do you have _any_ idea how long I was hung up on you?"

Okay, hitting the pause button for a second so I can clear some stuff up. Technically, the entire situation with Mai Tokiha is one huge, fucking misunderstanding. Long story short, Mai was pissed at her boyfriend because he's a dubious little bitch, so she enlisted my help. Apparently, if you wanna make your boy toy jealous, you hook up with a chick for a night; extra impact if you make out with her right in front of said boy. I thought it ended after the party, but I ended up taking Mai home. Let's just say neither of us were sober and her parents happened to be out for the weekend. One thing led to another. As great of a party (and night) that was, immediate gratification was so not worth the later repercussions.

When she woke up the next morning she decided she was pretty into me; when I woke up I decided cheap tequila might be the devil reincarnated. In case you didn't catch the difference of initial reactions that morning, let me translate: Mai was taking what happened much more seriously than I was. I chalked it up to teenage libido and alcohol, but she liked it, and after getting intimate she thought we were going to keep going with it.

It wasn't that I wasn't into Mai, because I totally was; that was the whole reason I went with the plan to make her boy jealous, I really was interested in her. That's also the reason why I couldn't bring myself to get my hopes up after that night. So, I left that morning, acting as if nothing had changed and breaking her heart in the process.

I swear, I had no idea she'd taken that night so seriously! If I had we'd probably be screwing on top of my bike right now. Sadly, as it stands, the damage had been done, and I was the ass of the situation.

But let's recap the situation in the hallway, in case you've forgotten. I am currently nursing a hand-shaped mark on my cheek as a fuming Mai verbally flays into me in the middle of a very attentive hall of students. Oh, did I mention Haruka Armitage, the girl who hates me and happens to have the authority to expel me, and Shizuru Viola, the hot transfer student that I nearly daydreamed about fucking in the middle of English class, are standing right behind me, watching this entire scene?

High school is so awesome.

"Listen, I'm sorry! Swear to God I had no idea!" I said, moving one hand up on instinct if I needed to deflect another smack. "We can talk about it if it'd make you feel better!"

"Talk about it? You've been avoiding me ever since the party! Now you're willing to talk to me, after all this time?" Thankfully, Chie was nowhere in sight. She'd be eating this up.

"It was only a week ago!" I put in, weakly attempting to better the situation.

"So you're admitting you've been avoiding me, then?" Mai demanded, her posture aggressive.

The sarcastic jerk buried not-so-deep inside me was just itching to tell her it's 'cause she's been a crazy bitch for the past week, but somehow I didn't think that would assist in bettering the situation. Instead I spat out, "well its not like you've been trying to find me."

"Have you checked your phone lately?" Mai asked, attitude really starting to come out in her voice.

Of course, I'd conveniently mentally blocked off the mountain of texts I'd gotten from Mai since the incident. "Err… I keep forgetting?" I didn't even convince myself with that one.

"I was just a quick screw for you, wasn't I?" Mai cried with indignation. "You're such a jerk, Natsuki!" She moved to turn and storm away.

I couldn't let her ditch like that, so I instinctively grabbed a hold of her wrist. In response she slapped me again… in the same spot as the first. There was plenty of pain.

When I was done silently yelping at the sting, I looked her dead in the eye. "Listen," I said quietly to her, my tone completely serious. "That was all a misunderstanding. I never meant to hurt you." At the sight of her eyes softening I pressed on. "I want to make it up to you somehow."

"Oh, Natsuki, you know I can't stay mad at you!" Mai cried happily, bringing a whole new meaning to the word bipolar. Before I knew it she'd thrown me into a wall and started suffocating me with her tongue.

You naturally have two options in this situation: reciprocate or run away. I discovered the magical third option: stand there in complete shock before looking at the goddess standing next to the gapping Student Council President. I had ended up looking at her in the stupid hope that she'd missed that entire exchange. Instead I met with a different, but oddly pleasing sight. In the second that I'd snapped my eyes to her, she seemed to be mildly surprised, but at the same time she had an intrigued smile on her face. It was a fleeting lapse, so miniscule I wasn't sure I'd actually noticed anything at all, but in the second her unreadable face had rendered readable, I felt a flutter of hope that maybe things were turning my way after all… or that she at least didn't mind girl on girl action.

And then I remembered I currently had Mai's tongue down my throat with The Armitage only feet away. I had two _new_ options: Push Mai off, causing drama with her but making it known to Shizuru that I'm a free agent (and possibly an ass) or allow Haruka to break it up, as she was no doubt preparing to do as she regained herself, making Mai think I was interested in a relationship and sending Shizuru the wrong message.

Ah, the magical third option, again. I crumbled to the ground. I figured that this would successfully disengage me from Mai's lip lock without hurting her feelings, since you don't often see perfectly healthy people fall down unless there's something amiss. I was so wrong. She _followed_ me down, never breaking the kiss. I'm sure the view of me on the ground, propped up on the wall with a very heated girl in my lap, sucking the life from my mouth, looked so much better than what we had going on before.

Finally, Haruka had control of her voice again. "No PDA in school!" She roared, directly causing a distinct ringing in my ears.

Mai popped up in complete surprise, finally allowing me to breathe, and blushed when she realized that we had an ever-growing audience. I wanted to face-palm when I realized that Mai had completely spaced the fact that we were in public.

"You two are coming with me! You're done painting the students with your inappropriate displays!" The volume had only gone down slightly. I felt bad for the transfer student as she winced at the noise.

"I think you mean tainting," that magnificent lilt chimed in from next to Haruka. No joke, just Shizuru's voice gave me goose bumps.

"I'm so sorry!" Mai yelped, pushing herself up and off me and shooting the blonde a fearful look. "I hadn't meant… I wasn't thinking."

I likewise got up while Haruka was distracted with Mai. Normally, I'm totally okay with getting a lecture and detention from The Armitage; makes me feel like my efforts aren't in vain. However, I'm not at all okay with getting in trouble because my emotionally-handicapped (as temporary as the state may be) friend decided to see if the rumors about my tongue being grape flavored were true. That's how I came upon my next choice of action.

As Haruka readied her next verbal attack, I started to casually saunter off. Of course, neither the blonde nor the orange-haired leech were going to let me go so easily.

"Natsuki dear, where are you going?"

"Kruger! Don't even think of leaving! I'm not done with you two yet!"

Two guesses who said what, first guess doesn't count.

And one guess for which of them made me cringe in fear. Hint: It wasn't Haruka.

"I've got to get to class, ladies," I said to them as I attempted to melt into the crowds, who were still staring. "Don't want to be late and get a detention, you know."

"Don't think you can get away so easily," Haruka boomed, taking a step and a half towards me.

"Ara, I do believe Ms. Kruger's right. It seems we've lost track of time after all that… fun." Oh God, was Shizuru really agreeing with me? Wait, she remembered my last name! "Perhaps now is not a good time for this?"

The bell chose that moment to ring. The Armitage nearly had a heart attack. She looked around and saw that what appeared to be half the school was also late for class. No one dared move as the hawk-like eyes of our Student Council President swung about and fixed the students with an threatening stare. "Well?" The Armitage roared to the kids in the hall, who looked positively idiotic as they stared in fear. "Get going! You're all late! Do you _want_ me to give all of you detention?"

If the sheer volume didn't snap them into gear, the words surely did. The hall emptied in good time as students ran for their respective classes. I tried to move with them, but a firm hand on my shoulder had me frozen cold. I flicked my gaze over my shoulder with silent resignation, recognizing the firm grip of Haruka, not Mai, before I even saw the shock of gold hair.

Haruka's next words surprised me, to say the least. "I was going to show Ms. Viola to her next class, but I'm late enough as it is. I understand that you two have the same third hour?"

Opportunity couldn't have been more obvious if it had slapped me across the face. I tried to keep my expression stoic to hide my excitement. "Gov?" I asked, pretending I hadn't already memorized her schedule.

Haruka nodded and gave me a look that could've made mountains crack. "I want you to escort her there, in exchange for me not locking you in the detention room. No funny stuff, Kruger! If she tells me you requested her I'll have you scrubbing desks for a week!"

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What was so bad about requesting her? Requesting her for what? It took a moment for it to click. "Oh, you mean molested, not requested." Wow, that sounded so good. Not only was she accusing me of being a pervert, but I could guess that she'd been calling me a perv from a completely unrelated word. I'd have to make sure to give myself a high five later.

"That's what I said! I'm serious. I don't want to hear a thing!"

"Of course, of course," I said in the same tone I'd imagine I would try to pacify a lion with. "The thought didn't even cross my mind." Unless the new girl consented, then she was fair game.

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**A/N: **I'm sure someone out there's fuming about the whole Mai thing. I just have one request: Don't hit the face.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Okay, this wasn't going up until tomorrow, but you guys were so great with the reviews that I just had to finish today. I'm really sorry I haven't replied to reviews yet. I won't be able to for a bit yet since I'm ridiculously late to the gym as it is. Really sorry, guys. I really do love you all! I'm just a horrible procrastinator!

**To the anonymous reviewers:**

**fgadszgsfgds: **Ah! Someone who approves of a crazy Mai! Good, because I had fun writing her like that, and I really want to have more loony moments with her in the future. We'll see if I can fit it in. Hopefully you like the future sexy antics of the story! Thanks for reviewing!

**Anon1:** And a second review! Very generous of you, I must say. I'm glad you approve of the second chapter! I just hope the third meets with the same approval. I'd love to hear your opinion on the matter! And thank you for the review!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Mai Hime/Otome or any of the songs in this story.

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"You smell delicious," the transfer student breathed into my ear, pressing herself into my body, forcing my back against the floor. "I could just _eat you up_." Her breasts pressed into my own as her fingers traced down my sides with torturous sluggishness.

Now that I have your attention, we're rewinding back to how I ended up underneath Shizuru Viola, with her sweet voice breathing into my ear. That's right, you'll have to wait.

Directly after telling The Armitage I wasn't going to ravish the fine piece of woman before me, Haruka and Mai went one way, Shizuru and I went the other. Thankfully, the halls were clear of any occupants at this point, so I was free to try to come up with something to start a conversation.

"That was quite the scene," Shizuru commented, breaking the silence for me. "Tell me, do you and your girlfriend often put on such displays in public?" She was teasing me, judging by her tone of voice and the glint in her eyes. Wasn't sure how I felt about the teasing at the time. Don't fret, I would soon learn the hell that is being teased by Shizuru Viola.

My eyes turned to hers as I replied, "she isn't my girlfriend." I wanted to judge her reaction.

My heart leapt when I saw her allow a pleased smile to form on her face. "Is that so?"

"Yeah. That whole thing with Mai is kind of… complicated."

"Mmm…" I was kind of surprised to note that she seemed fairly disinterested in the situation with Mai. "So, which of you was the dominant?"

What she was saying didn't really click as quickly as it should've, so I mechanically replied, "I was, of course." Only after answering so honestly did it register _what_ I'd just answered.

To say that Shizuru's next look was intrigued would've been an understatement. She gazed at me like she was already deciding what kind of honey patterns she would make on my skin. I was definitely fond of that look. That's when she did something I definitely hadn't been expecting: she made the first move.

My back slammed into the wall nearby, Shizuru pushing me into it. "You sound so cocky, Ms. Kruger," she breathed as she closed the distance between our bodies.

Now, Haruka said I couldn't do anything to the new girl, she said nothing about the new girl doing anything to me. That being said, I also added (even if it was mentally) that I wouldn't do shit unless she consented. If pushing me into a wall and grinding her assets on me isn't consenting, I don't know what the fuck is. I was so ready to drag her to some secluded corner and get some right then, but she wasn't done.

"Perhaps I should break that confidence?" Shizuru murmured.

I didn't like the way that sounded in the least. I was pretty firm in my position as the dominant. Let me tell you, that resolve was gone pretty damn fast when her hands found their way under my shirt and she went at my sides with those delicate fingers.

I'm going to get this one out of the way right now, I'm deathly ticklish on my sides. Like, I'll start to giggle if you look at them the right way. No joke. To say I started squirming would've been a lie. I had a spazz attack, bordering on a seizure.

Her hands stopped at the dramatic reaction and a devilish grin split her perfect lips. "Is Ms. Kruger ticklish?"

"Natsuki," I grumbled as I swatted at her hands.

Her eyebrow went up in question, whether it was because I was pulling at her hands or because I'd just said my name, I wasn't sure.

"Call me Natsuki. The 'Miss' is a total turn off." Clarification's always a good thing, right?

Unless you're holding a conversation with a particular honey-haired tease.

"Oh? So _Na-tsu-ki_ is turned on to begin with?"

If I wasn't turned on before, I sure as hell was when she made love to my name with her voice. How is that even possible? I didn't understand, but I credited it to the fact that her voice sounds like candy-coated sex. In the end, I decided not to grace her tease with an answer. I did, however, involuntarily give her the holy grail of teases: I blushed.

I didn't realize my mistake until well after the incident, but at the time I thought I was in the clear, considering she just looked at me many moments, blinking in surprise. I took this momentary lapse in concentration as my cue to turn the tables. A moment later I had flipped our positions, the brunette sandwiched between me and the wall. Her surprise increased tenfold as my blush faded and my hands went to the wall on either side of her head.

"What was that about breaking?" I asked, like the confident beast I was.

Confident and foolish. Oh so foolish.

She threw herself at me, but not how I was hoping she would. I'm talking literally threw herself at me. I lost balance with her weight suddenly getting forced upon me and I fell backwards. I yelped and crashed down, the transfer student atop me for the entire ride.

Speaking of riding, by the time the surprise and sting from the fall had left my senses and I could properly observe my surroundings, that's precisely what Shizuru was doing. She straddled my hips, her _very _soft, cushioned ass perched right atop my crotch.

That's right, you're jealous right now. Who cares that my head hurt like a bitch? So what if I was laid out on the filthy school floor? Why should I care that I was late as hell to class? I had the finest girl I'd ever laid eyes on sitting on top of me, eyeing me like a wild animal. Rawr.

"I said that I was going to break you." The words came off her tongue as if the idea wasn't scary as hell. Then, a complete subject change out of nowhere (surprisingly, to my disappointment). "Mmm… what are you listening to, Natsuki?" Shizuru asked as she lowered her torso down to mine, arms on either side of me. It took me a minute to realize that she could see my ear bud, since my hair was splayed out on the floor. I'd completely forgotten it was even there, since the music was actually pretty quiet.

Seeing no answer forthcoming from me, she reached into my pocket, where the wire was poking out. Normally people don't caress their thigh when their hand's in their pocket, but she sure as hell did to mine. When the iPod was clear of its prison (after having to restrain my instinct to start humping her damn hand) she pulled it up to her face and smiled. "How fitting," she noted in a quiet tone as she turned up the volume so the music coming from the ear bud under my shirt was audible to her, though it wasn't so much so that the ear bud in my ear deafened me.

_Well woman the way they time cold I wanna be keepin' you warm  
I got the right temperature for shelter you from the storm  
Oh lord, gal I got the right tactics to turn you on, and girl I  
Wanna be the papa, you can be the mom, oh oh! _**(1)**

She pushed the MP3 back into my pocket, keeping her hand inside much longer than necessary as her finger worked over my thigh. When her hand came out, the music providing as background noise for us, she bent lower until her face was hovering just over mine. "Don't look so scared. I don't bite," she cooed softly to me. "Unless you'd like that."

For the record, I wasn't scared, I just _really_ liked where her ass was at that moment. Up in the air. I must've been staring at it or something, I dunno. I was so focused on stopping myself from grabbing it that I wasn't actually paying attention to anything, including Shizuru's face. That is, until it was descending towards mine, making her hair meld with mine on the ground. She came so close that I could smell the scent on her skin, could feel her breath mingle with mine. Just before her lips reached my own, she changed course up towards my ear.

Such an insufferable tease! Before I knew it, she had the headphone in my ear between her teeth and was pulling it out. I felt the wire shift as the ear bud hit the floor, but I didn't pay much attention to it because Shizuru had taken the opportunity to run the tip her tongue around the perimeter of my ear as soon as her mouth was free again.

I, the great Natsuki Kruger, actually gasped and let a shiver wrench my spine. A second shiver attacked when she blew lightly on the slick skin. That's when her lips came next to my ear and she murmured quietly "You smell delicious. I could just _eat you up_." She allowed her body to lay fully on mine as her arms moved to my sensitive sides and began experimenting with the flesh through my shirt. She brought her head up to observe my face as she tormented me too!

I did indeed squirm, but it was nowhere near as bad as when there was no fabric to dull the feel. I finally thought to move in my utter desperation to get those teasing hands away from my sides. My own hands grabbed hers, not so tight as to hurt, but tight enough. I expected her to try to tug away, but she didn't, she just smirked and lowered her mouth down once more, but this time to my neck.

With her head down again, I had my pleasant view back (a.k.a. her ass), which may I say I was very happy with. When she started to nibble lightly on the base of my neck, I was finally deciding that maybe being the submissive wasn't such a bad thing. That is… until she _bit down_ on me like she was a fucking cannibal! Holy hot hell, for a second I thought she was trying to eat me! And not in the way I intended to do to her either! I totally panicked and grabbed the first thing that came to mind… her airborne bottom.

Soon as my hands made contact, she moaned into my neck and started to suck at the skin. If there's one thing that scares me more than being eaten alive, it was what she was doing at that moment. The damn new girl was giving me a hickey! I do not get marked by other people, it's just the way things worked around here. I was so freaked out that I tried to stand up to get her off. The standing part, after a lot of groaning, both sexual and not, came in a few seconds. The getting-off part did not. In fact, she seemed very content with her legs wrapped around my hips and her arms around my neck as she did her best impression of vampirism.

Admittedly, I was impressed that she was able to keep herself up on her own, since at this point the hands on her ass were just for decoration (and because I was enjoying feeling it up, but whatever). But the problem still remained, since she was _still marking me_. Not okay. So what do you do when something is latched onto you, trying to steal your soul? You hit it, of course. Or, in my case, you run it into a wall.

Seems like a feasible choice, right? Wrong. Don't forget, kids, her legs are wrapped around my hips. Just think about that one for a second. I'll let it stew.

Done? It means her legs are fucking _open_ and her crotch is pressing _into me_. Either I'm a tool and didn't remember that little fact, or I'm a sex goddess and was completely aware of it in the back of my head. Whichever it is, the result was still the same: her back slams into the wall, I slam into her, my hips press into her private parts. It was an accident, it wasn't my fault, and it wasn't intentional. I would, however, take complete credit for it, because it actually made Shizuru unlatch from my neck and throw her head back to moan.

I've heard moaning before, but I've never heard moaning that was so raw, so sensual that it actually made _me_ want to moan just from the sound. I'm sure the way I looked at her when that noise came from her throat could be perfectly described as utterly ravenous. I wanted her before, but after that I _had_ to hear her make that sound again.

Her head still back, her eyes snapped shut, she started to rock her hips up and down, grinding her pussy against me. A hum that slowly turned into a moan exited her mouth, and all I could do was stare. I'd never met a woman so damned arousing! I was going to take her right then. I couldn't have it any other way, even if I had to fight with her for dominance, even if we were at school, even if I had to do it in a closet, I just had to have her.

Sadly, for both you and I, that's when a door not too far down the hall clicked open. I sprang back from the wall, Shizuru likewise came down from her high and dropped off of me. By the time the door was swung fully open and the person beyond it was stepping out, Shizuru and I were a few feet away from each other.

The boy who had opened the door didn't even really seem to care about us, and turned down the opposite side of the hall. I had every intention to take this opportune lull to drag her somewhere and screw her until she passed out, but she continued to surprise me.

"Shall we go to class, then?" Shizuru asked as if the last few minutes had never happened.

I'm pretty sure I gaped at her. What the shit? She couldn't be serious, could she? We were just about to get it on and she wants to go to class?

Her crimson eyes twinkled with immeasurable mirth. It clicked then that she'd intended for this to happen the moment she knew she was going to be escorted to class by me. She was playing me like a fiddle!

What a conniving bitch! Teasing is alright sometimes, but toying with one's sex drive is just downright venomous! I knew she was enjoying every minute of my mental battle as I considered the merits of tackling her and giving her a taste of how exciting public sex is.

"Is something wrong, Natsuki?" She asked, her oh-so-sweet smile unbelievably tempting and infuriating at the same time.

"I…" This was my chance! Lay down the law, Kruger! Show her you're a badass! Show her you can't be toyed with, despite her false assumptions! Be the man! "Let's go, before we get any later."

Way to be the man.

My reply made her face temporarily reveal two very fleeting emotions: disappointment and intrigue. The half-second her face had lapsed its control, however, was quickly covered up by the unreadable smile again.

I led the way down the hall, inwardly fuming. She thought she could play me? Oh, she was dead wrong! Natsuki Kruger does not lay down and let every fine girl in school walk all over her. Shit just does not go down like that.

I snapped my eyes toward her as we walked side-by-side. Her head was turned slightly toward me, a hungry aura radiating from her as her eyes slipped over every facet of my body. Just seconds ago she was pulling out the cock block, and now she was full-on, unabashedly checking me out? This girl needed to make up her damn mind!

She was obviously playing games with me. She wanted me as badly, if not worse, than I wanted her, but she was also enjoying the way she was making me squirm with her treatment. If she thought I'd come crawling back after the shit she'd just pulled, she was dead wrong.

And then I caught a second glance at her perfect ass, triggering my libido to take over my brain again. That body, that moan, that voice! Holy fuck what a woman! Okay, there would be no crawling, but this woman was one of a kind. I was definitely going to get a piece of her, if for no better reason than to prove to her that I could. If the transfer student thought she could continue to play her little game without retaliation from me, she was dead wrong**.**

I made myself a promise then. I was so going down on Shizuru Viola.

Of course, I had no idea that my outraged reaction was just what she wanted.

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**1:** Temperature - Sean Paul

**A/N:** Oh man, both Natsuki and Shizuru are perverted beasts? I dunno what you guys think, but I think this is going to be fun as hell to write.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Thanks to the reviewers (and a special thanks to the reviewers with PMs disabled, since I can't do it properly) and readers! I actually rewrote this chapter three (3!) times from scratch. I was unhappy with how it was turning out every single time. Still not totally pleased with it, but it's much better than the first go.

Ah! A review reminded me that I haven't informed you all yet. My grasp of grammar completely butchers the English language, so there's bound to be plenty of mistakes; even more so considering that I don't have a beta. I apologize for the plethora of typos.

**To the anonymous reviewers:**

**roger: **If anyone can tame Natsuki, it would definitely be Shizuru. Damn woman is sexy no matter what she's doing! I'd let her tame me too. Thanks for the review and the encouragement!

**beanzy (I'm going assume your two reviews are from the same person): **I sure hope the story'll be good! I'm straining my head so as not to disappoint, I just pray it's a success. Also, girl fights just so happen to be God's gift to man. I would definitely like to see a girl fight between those Shizuru and Mai, but we'll have to see how things go. Thanks so much for reviewing!

**XD:** I'll admit, I'd originally put down "be the woman!" Somehow, that didn't seem to bring about the desired effect; hence the "be the man" was born. And no, I'm pretty sure Natsuki doesn't have a penis :P Thanks for reviewing!

**anon: **Yes! I'm getting love! Totally awesome, I don't think I've ever gotten that one before. I appreciate the love and the review! Many thanks.

**gooeymucus:** I'm doing my best to keep the chapters rolling, but inspiration is a tough thing to come by! When I was writing the first lines of chapter 3, it actually occurred to me that it seemed like another daydream and not a teaser. Funny that. Thanks for reviewing!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Mai Hime/Otome or any of the songs in this story.

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Somehow, someway, Shizuru actually managed to get us out of major trouble by making up some ridiculous story about me helping her find her classes for the remainder of her school day. Hah, as if I would waste my time like that. Unless I was getting some from her. Which I totally would be, even if she didn't know it yet.

But that has nothing to do with the current situation. Turns out that during our exciting and completely game-killing excursions in the hall our Government class had not, in fact, died from lack of Kruger and gone on with life. Our peers sat in groups of two, desks paired together, working on a perfectly simple worksheet that one person could've done without a problem.

Ah, the beauty of having a teacher like Midori Sugiura. Need to write a paper? Let's do it in groups of four. See this little worksheet with ten appalling simple questions? Let's do it in pairs. It was no mystery why Midori was everyone's favorite teacher.

Midori had actually been our World History teacher when Nao and I were Sophomores. With the economy going to shit our school saw some unpleasant downsizing, and the redheaded teacher was transferred to teaching Economy and Government in our Junior year. Our favorite "17 year old" redheaded teacher was far from happy about the matter, being a history buff, and in her childish rebellion decided that if the school system was going to mess with her, she was going to mess with them. Hence the easiest class on the planet was born. Thank you dumb ass superintendent for budget cuts. Because of you, I'm passing Government and I have no idea what the two branches of the United States Government are called.

Or were there three branches? Shit, I don't know and I don't care. Three cheers for shouting out answers to tests while Midori pretends to be deaf.

But back to the matter at hand. Some of you might've already figured out that because one Natsuki plus one Shizuru makes two people, and we were late to a class that was paired up for an assignment, that automatically had us paired up.

Was I to be happy or frustrated with the situation? The answer: Both. On one hand, I'd wanted to take this time to mull over how I was getting back at the honey-haired temptress, on the other hand I had an opportunity for some improvising and some revenge.

Going toe to toe with the master of teasing at her own game? Generally not a good idea.

Curious as to what was happening directly after breezing through our work and having nothing else to do all class hour? Let's take a look.

The mating patterns of the Natsuki generally consist of the dark-haired animal overwhelming smaller, weaker animals with the Natsuki's general awesome and prowess in the courting process before complete and total wowing within the mating rituals. That being said, the Natsuki was completely dumbfounded by the elusive nature of the Shizuru. One moment, the Natsuki thought she had it made, the next, the Shizuru was sauntering away, swaying her booty, still fully clothed.

What's a Natsuki to do? Not what the Natsuki did.

Shall we paint the scene? Their desks are side-by-side, the paper the pair had been working on off to the side, totally forgotten about, as the two students within the desks pretended to not pay any attention to one another.

I was slumped in my desk in a manner that would've made any chiropractor cringe. I had my headphones in my ears as I tried to decipher what Shizuru was up to without actually looking right at her. The beat to which I listened to did not help in the least.

"_I wish I could fuck every girl in the world"_ **(1)**

The song that Nao dubbed as "Kruger's theme song" played in my ears as I tried to will up the courage to do something to the girl next to me.

I totally disagree with Nao, however, on the song. I might not be conservative in my nighttime activities, but I wasn't a full-blown woman-whore. Every girl in the world seems like a hefty number, especially considering I'd be an encyclopedia of STDs by the end of it. I would've been very happy with just the girl directly to my right.

Not to mention that I had this weird feeling that Shizuru would be very unhappy with me if I were to do something of that sort. Just call it a weird feeling, but I have this image of the woman coming at me with a whip afterwards. I had to suppress the urge to shudder at the thought. Cue my overly colorful imagination. Some of you might get off from the image of me tied down to a four-post bed with a leather-clad Shizuru hovering over me with a three-pronged whip, but I know that isn't my kind of thing.

My body involuntarily shivered, prompting Shizuru to look up at me from the book she was reading. She said something, but I couldn't hear it through the music. I popped out an ear bud and looked at her inquiringly.

Patiently, she repeated. "Are you okay? You look a little pale."

It has nothing to do with the scene currently in my head involving you, me, and more rope than is really necessary. Honest. "Fine, just kinda cold." Yes, it's fucking hot in this class, even more so with the sexy goddess next to me. Tell her I'm freezing. Way to be smooth. Maybe she'd warm me up? The class could close their eyes.

Those red eyes definitely spoke of the transfer student's skepticism, but she left me to myself and went back to her book.

Damn woman. She was just _pretending_ to read her book. She couldn't fool me though, she was really trying to seduce me with the way she turned the pages. How can someone make taking her finger to separate a page from a book and turn it look so sensual? It was like she was opening the book to eat it out. If it's possible to finger a book, that's what I'd describe it as.

And then she licked the very tip of her finger to separate a particularly stubborn page from the book. I wasn't fooled, though! She was taunting me with the way that tongue flicked over the tip of her finger with the skill of a well-bedded woman. That tongue was going to be _mine_, damn it! It took every ounce of self control not jump on top of her as she did it a second time and take her tongue between my teeth and show her who the real deviant here was.

I reined in my sex drive, reminding myself repeatedly that I was in class. I needed to be subtle, I needed to be swift, and I needed to be quiet. The last thing I needed was getting caught by Midori and getting sent to the office, or worse yet, the Armitage.

The tongue came out for a third time, and I said "fuck you" to subtlety and quiet. At least I was swift. I sprung from my desk and tackled her to the ground just as another song started to play from my headphones.

"_I-I-I I can make your bed rock."_ **(2)**

Damn right I can! And I was definitely going to make something rock right then! Shizuru was under me, her back on the ground and one leg still up on her previous seat as she looked up at me with surprise, her book on the ground not so far away.

It was my turn to mark my territory. I dove down on my target, the exposed crook of her neck, and took with my teeth. The yelp that came from the brunette was beautifully high pitched and submissive. Oh, I so had her now.

I started sucking at the flesh, causing the girl under me to gasp and arch her back, pressing her body into me. The second I felt her generous chest press into me, I had to abandon my work on her neck and rip open her blouse. The white shirt underneath was easy enough to tear open, and I was met with the very welcome sight of--

"Natsuki?" Shizuru questioned, looking up from the book in her hand to shoot me a curious look.

I jumped, having been interrupted from the daydream I didn't even know I was having. "Wha…?"

"Are you sure you're okay? You're breathing heavily."

I realized she was right, and immediately felt my face warming into a blush. I should not be fantasizing about this woman! She was obviously trying to get a rise out of me, and I was playing right into her hand. I shook my head and growled, "I'm fine."

"I hope you were daydreaming about me," she said casually as she looked back at her book.

The blush on my face darkened a few shades. I was so busted. "I wasn't daydreaming about anyone," I lied.

"Is that so?" She asked, still not looking up from her book. She licked her finger_ again_ and turned the page. There was no way it was fucking coincidence now! This woman was the devil! The sexy, provocative, tempting devil!

"Yes," I affirmed, my glaring visage daring her to challenge my claim.

I wanted her to challenge it. I was so naïve that I figured I could fend off anything verbal. Instead, I felt a hand snake out and graze over the jeans covering my thigh. I froze completely, feeling a feather light touch grazing over my leg. I looked down and saw delicate fingers working their magic at my upper thigh.

Any sane person would've grabbed that hand and stopped the affair. I, instead, looked around to see if anyone was looking at us. My priorities are right in line, right? Everyone seemed engrossed in their own business, thankfully, and was paying us no mind. Again, second order of business should've been to stop that hand. Didn't do it then either. Instead, I just looked at her incredulously. She turned her own eyes to meet mine and smirked cheekily just as her hand trailed up to my upper thigh and moved over to my inner thigh.

She was winning again! This could not happen!

Good thing I'm so subtle, or else we might've had a problem. I'm an expert sneak, however, and so my hand slipped past her own and went straight for the grand prize. My hand met the crotch of her tight pants in the blink of an eye and applied pressure immediately. Oh so subtle, Kruger.

It may not have been shrewd, but she definitely responded. Her own hand frozen, and her facial features relaxed to the look of someone enjoying themselves. Do you have any idea how pleasing it was to watch her have to swallow down the moan that followed? Take the pleasure of eating a girl who orgasms out chocolate and multiply that by a girl who moans with Beyonce's singing voice. That's about the general idea.

I was so caught up in the woman as she struggled to keep her face straight that I didn't think to remove my hand now that I'd won the battle. Instead I started to massage her through her jeans. Normally, this wouldn't have been so bad, but we're _in class_. The only thing that stops anyone from seeing us practically fucking in the middle of Government is no one is paying any attention to us, since we were sitting in the back of the room. But we're teenagers, why should we care? Sex is more important than decency,

Shizuru slowly began opening her legs. Oh how I wished those jeans weren't in the way. I very nearly trailed my fingers up to undo the button on her jeans, but I finally remembered where I was and what I was doing. I had to remove my hand, but not before giving one last squeeze. I finally succeeded in getting a noise from her, even if it was a nearly inaudible gasp. That gasp sounded just as sweet as any moan could've. It signaled that Shizuru Viola wasn't indomitable, and that was something I was definitely going to take pleasure in.

I pulled her hand off my thigh, prompting her to move her eyes toward me. I looked back, grin firmly in place. "Hey there, sexy. Something you needed?" Ah, the Kruger beast was back.

"Mmm... you." Her voice was low and seductive, making goose bumps dance across the back of my neck. The smirk on her face that followed was unbelievably sexy as she took in the image of my body.

Fuck. Yes. I did just hear those words come from her mouth. I wanted to jumped out of my desk and scream over this little victory, but I had to play it cool. For the first time since meeting this brunette, I'd done something to one up her, I couldn't screw up now.

Or so I thought.

What I didn't know at the time, was my opponent was a master of strategy. What's the best way to get data on the enemy's tactics? Recon, of course. That's exactly what she was doing. Poor, foolish, prideful me had no idea what I'd gotten myself into.

"What if I won't give you that?" I asked, feeling especially confident.

"Then I'll take it myself."

And there went my confidence. There was no room for debate with the look in her eyes. She wasn't making a claim, she was stating a fact. As blind as I was, even I could see that.

But I still had to be difficult, I still had to stand up for myself. After all, I still thought I stood a chance. "I'd like to see you try."

After everything that had happened, I'd expected her to try something. I was dumbfounded when she just smiled and went back to her book. I realized why a moment later when a hand smacked the back of my head, completely taking me by surprise.

"Ow! Nao!" I roared before even looking at my assailant. Who else, other than Nao, would hit me? No one. As I turned around, nursing the back of my head, my eyes met with my redheaded friend's face. "The fuck do you want?"

Nao smiled wickedly as she replied, "I can't come say hi to… my…?" Her eyes trailed down as she paused in her sarcastic question. She stared below my eyes a few seconds before looking back up and frowning, her arms crossed. "Who'd you screw?"

I was totally taken aback. Technically, I'd done no one. I was still pretty pissed about that fact. I wanted to fix Shizuru with a glare at that thought, but that would give everything away to Nao. "No one, why?"

"You have a hickey the size of a small child on your neck."

"Fuck the what?" I yelped, hand immediately going to where I could still feel the new girl's teeth pressed to my skin.

"Oh God, it wasn't Mai, was it? I heard about what happened in the hall before class."

"No! She isn't coming anywhere near me again!" I felt myself cringe just from the thought.

"That's why you let her screw your mouth with her tongue?" Nao asked, flicking her eyes to the seemingly uninterested brunette next to me curiously.

"I didn't _let her_ do anything." I insisted.

"Just like you aren't a home wrecker," Nao ribbed.

I am so not a home wrecker. That shit wasn't really under my control. "Hey, she came onto _me_."

I was getting a bit worried. My dumb shit for a friend was either trying to mess with my chances with getting with Shizuru, or she was just that stupid, because you generally don't talk about incriminating evidence against you next to the girl you wanna screw into the wall. Knowing Nao, it could've been either. I tried to send a silent message to her by staring her down and flicking my eyes quickly toward the girl sitting next to me, and she quickly got the message. The redhead's devilish grin revealed that she'd been trying to screw with me.

Did I tell you? I have awesome friends who like to mess with my sex life.

"Did you want to invite your friend to sit with us at lunch?" Nao asked, actually being helpful. Imagine that!

I looked over at Shizuru, who by all appearances was paying us no heed, and called, "hey, Shizuru?"

I thought I was being ignored at first, because she didn't reply right away. Soon enough, however, she marked her page and looked up at me with an polite smile. "Yes?"

"Did you wanna sit with us for lunch?" I asked. I indicated to Nao, "in case you're worried about her bitchisms, you don't need to stress about it, she's not an ass hat to potential dates." I grinned at looked at the redhead. "She's still in the closet, though." That was revenge for trying to get me in shit with Viola.

"You wish, Kruger," Nao retorted.

"My apologies, but I already planned to sit with Ms. Armitage at lunch today." Shizuru replied, sounding sincerely disappointed. "Perhaps next time?"

What was this polite bull shit she was pulling? She didn't talk to me like that. I looked between her and Nao and put two and two together. She was putting up a show for everyone else, and was a seductive vixen around only me? I felt kind of flattered.

"Yeah, that's cool," I replied, realizing we were both putting on quite a show for our outside observer. The bell cut our conversation in half, prompting me to stand with Nao. "I'll see you around, Shizuru?"

A secret message passed between the two of us as she nodded. "I most certainly will, Natsuki."

I walked away grinning. I was so sure that the tables had turned.

* * *

**1:** Every Girl In The World - Young Money

**2:** BedRock - Young Money and Llyod

**A/N:** I need some inspiration, guys. This story's tough to write unless I'm feeling particularly sarcastic.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Remember that one time I told you guys not to take anything in here seriously? I'm reinforcing that now.

Dear straight females: You, especially, should not take what you're about to read seriously. I love you guys with a passion, you're fantastic, and no, I don't actually think the way you're going to see. You'll know what I'm talking about when you read it.

Now that that's out of the way, I would like to direct your guys' attention to a comic strip related to Chapter 4 by** Aud8** (Or 8Aud8 on Deviant Art). Oh! While you're there, check out 8Aud8's gallery. There's a ton of damn great stuff in there. Show some artist love.

http:// 8aud8. deviantart. com/art/The-Natsuki-151665148 (remove the spaces)

Hm... I don't actually have a song in here, but if you'd like some ambiance, I'd suggest I Look Good by Chalie Boy, just 'cause it makes me smile.

Love to all readers and reviewers. You guys keep me going! Hopefully you all like this chapter, and can accept it as a thank you.

**To the anonymous reviewers:**

**oo1:** A like _and_ two thumbs up? You spoil me! Thanks so much for the boost. I really appreciated your approval and your review!

**roger: **Damn right Shizuru is a sex-goddess. The only question is can Natsuki keep up with her? Ah, and thank you for the encouragement, it always does a writer immeasurable good! Thanks for reviewing!

**mD: **I have to say you made me laugh. I'm sorry it's getting you sexually frustrated! I don't mean to, but I just seem to keep putting it off don't I? We'll have to see what happens. Thanks for reviewing!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Mai Hime/Otome or any of the songs in this story.

* * *

Generally, lunch is a pretty mundane affair. Get food with Nao, sit down with Nao, eat food with Nao, walk around with Nao, leave for class with Nao. Since the sexcapades episode with Mai, however, the situation was actually changed up a bit. There was a "hide from Mai with Nao" slapped into the schedule since (Surprise! God hates you, Natsuki.) Mai was in our lunch block.

After my little victory over Shizuru, however, I actually forgot about my constant flight from the crazy bitch. People do dumb stuff like that, okay? We're human. I just so happened to do something dumb with my best friend fully aware that I was being an idiot. (Surprise! Nao hates you too, Natsuki.)

Only after hearing a very familiar squeal did I realize my mistake. I paled and nearly dove under the nearest table; Nao broke into a fit of laughter so violent she nearly suffocated.

"You totally… forgot… didn't you?" Nao asked between gasps for air, ceasing in her laughter only long enough to taunt me. "Was Viola that… good?"

"I didn't do Shizuru," I growled quietly as my eyes darted about the suddenly claustrophobic cafeteria in search of my mortal enemy.

Guess what guys, I found her! However, I located her only after she torpedoed into me in a flash of orange lightning. We tumbled to the floor, me on my back and my opponent curled up over my body. "Natsuki! I missed you so much!" Mai cried happily as she nuzzled into my neck.

Oh _fuck_. My _neck_. Shizuru's _mark_. Bipolar _hooker_. See where I'm going with this?

Moral of the story: This was not going to end well. Oh yeah, and don't fuck a girl if she's crazy.

I will make no comments about sexual abstinence at this time.

That out of the way, let's go back to the murder just waiting to happen.

I decided that in an attempt to not bring attention to the mark, I would cover it up with my hands. It didn't occur to me there was a fatal flaw to the plan. I know, I'm an idiot. You guys don't have to tell me, I'm well aware. It wasn't my fault! I was panicking, and I had the second most frightening woman (the first being a certain whip-wielding transfer student) currently cuddling me like a dog. You smartasses try to come up with a better idea on the fly!

And don't even hit me with that "well Natsuki, you shouldn't have slept with her in the first place" crap. It wasn't my fault! I was totally smashed and sex always looks better while drunk. Especially sex with someone's girlfriend. Besides, with boobs as big as Mai's, who _wouldn't_ be curious?

Back to my decision to divert attention from a hickey by covering said hickey with my hands. If you have yet to figure out that my choice of action was not the brightest thing to do, let me hand you the neon sign. **It was a bad idea.**

Who the hell sees someone cover something up and automatically goes: "Oh, she's covering it. Must not be anything important behind there! Let's just look away!"

If you answered "me" to that last question, I have news for you, my friend. _They're hiding something._

So, as you've probably guessed, Mai looked up at my now covered neck, which she'd been having a damn good time of nuzzling into before, and gave me a questioning look. "What're you doing?"

"Umm…." Blank… blank… blank…. "A super contagious skin disease has sprouted on my neck and I don't want you to get it?" Smooth, dumb fuck.

"Aw, you're so considerate, honey!" Mai yelped excitedly, now nuzzling into my boobs. Don't ask me how my excuse worked. I have no idea.

I'm pretty sure I heard Nao's lungs pop as she let loose a fresh batch of tear-inducing laughter. Apparently it hadn't occurred to her that friends help each other out, not roll on the floor while laughing at the other's plight.

I made a mental note to get new friends while I attempted to push Mai off me with one hand and cover that bloodsucking woman's mark with the other. "Okay, yeah, great to see you, Mai. Now get up."

It's cute that I honestly thought she would get off me, don't you think? The reality, however, was she ignored my demand completely and buried herself further into my cleavage than should be possible. I heaved an exasperated sigh and slammed the back of my head into the hard floor of the lunchroom repeatedly. At least if I knocked myself unconscious I wouldn't have to stew on how dumb I was for screwing a girl who always forgot she was in public when she decided to make known that she wants my body. I could already see people watching us and I wasn't even looking for them. Was it so hard to get through an hour of my school day without bringing attention to myself?

"Mai, they're watching us," I growled from behind gritted teeth. "Get up."

"They? As in the students?" Mai asked innocently, not removing herself from my chest.

"No, the fucking Rainbow Police. Of course the students!"

"Ah…" Mai murmured, finally seeming to catch my point and moving.

At last, victory! She was actually listening and getting off me of her own volition! Maybe she wasn't half as crazy as I thought.

And that's when she leaned up and started making out with me in front of everyone. _Again_.

I lied. She's not just crazy, she's insufferable! Since when did "get off" translate to "hey Mai, make out with me"? Never! So why was she doing it now? Because she's psycho!

I tried to yell at her to stop, but the only thing that came out was incoherent garble. Imagine that. My speech's only impaired by the appendage assaulting my throat. So, instead I made an attempt at pushing her off me with my free hand. Fact: Mai's feisty. When she wants to suck my face, she is damn well going to suck my face. No permission needed. So pushing her off turned into a fail.

I had to pull out the big guns. I was forced to use both arms. Oh man, move for cover. I finally succeeded in pushing her off and immediately sat up. I wiped my mouth off with the back of my wrist while glaring daggers at her. "What the _hell_ is with you?" I growled to her as she got on all fours and appeared to be preparing to spring again.

"What do you…" her voice trailed off, and her eyes locked with something below my eyes.

I'm sure you all know what happens next.

"What's that, Natsuki?" Mai screamed at me, leaping and trying to tackle me to the ground in a frenzied rage. "Have you been cheating on me?"

I just barely dodged out of the way in time to avoid getting taken down to the ground. "I'd have to be dating you in the first place to be cheating on you!" I roared back just as she was spinning around to face me again. I quickly took to my feet, thinking to intimidate her with height. I forgot you can't intimidate sex-crazed psychos.

"I can't believe you! We just made up, too!" She wasn't listening to a word I was saying and the continuing laughter from Nao, which was now half gasps for air and half the sound of strangled guffaws, wasn't much helping either. "What about our future?"

"There is no future for us!" I bluntly stated. "There can't be when you're probably going to a ward because you're fucking _crazy_!"

Okay, that was a bit harsh, but you'd be short tempered too if you were in my position! Don't even try to deny that you guys would take Shizuru over Mai any day of the week. She was one of the roadblocks, and had to be dealt with accordingly.

But you'd expect her to be upset about it, right? If so, you don't know Mai very well.

"You can come with me!" She cried hopefully.

"…What?" Yeah, I just called her crazy and she invites me to go to the ward with her. Let me go pack my bags right now.

"Our love transcends such boundaries," she continued. I guess she really hadn't heard anything I'd said that entire time. She took to her feet and gave me a hopeful look.

I was about to reply when Nao beat me to it, finally seeming to have recovered from her laughing fit. "Yes, Kruger, your love is indomitable." She was trying her best to say it with a straight face, but her lips were twitching uncontrollably. "How could you be willing to give it up so easily?"

"I hate you," I deadpanned to Nao before looking blankly at Mai. "And I'm not in love with you."

"But--" Nao started to say something, but a well-placed kick to the ovaries stopped her before she could get out a second word. She collapsed to the ground curled up in a ball whimpering.

"Does it hurt?" I growled down to my friend. "I hope you're on your period, bitch."

"Fuck… you…" Nao growled back quietly.

Satisfied at last with my vengeance, I looked back at Mai to assess the damages my exclamation had made. Oh how short lived my victory over Nao was when I saw she looked as if she just didn't understand… not to mention the three girls coming straight for me from behind the orange-haired menace! The second I saw the look on the trio's faces as they moved towards me, I knew I was in shit. Two of the girls, a brunette and a dark-haired female, looked very intent on getting to me; the last girl was a blonde who was vainly attempting to pull the dark-haired one away. She wasn't doing very well with the pulling away part.

It's now necessary to disclose that I have actually slept with two of these girls. Yeah… Akane Soir and

Erstin Ho. Same party, same bed, same night. Unfortunately, not the same time. Good fun for all, but shit went downhill way quicker than I would've liked. Sigh… this is why Nao calls me a home wrecker. Damn it.

The story with Akane is pretty straight forward. Keep in mind we're at a party. Booze and the like? Yeah. I really need to stop drinking. I always get in shit when I do. Anyway, on with the story.

"Oh Natsuki, you're so hot. Wanna be my first lesbian experience?"

"Hell yes I do."

It may be a shitty summary, but you get the idea. Editing out the gory details none of you need, there's only one other thing I'd like to add: All the straight girls I've hooked up with are inherently lazy in bed. It might just be my own experience, but reciprocation is not a well known word to them. I don't know why, but as soon as they're done screaming your name, the next word to come out of their mouths is "cuddle?"

No. That is not acceptable.

Anyway, back to the point. Yes, I did mention that Akane is straight. We were both well aware of that going into bed, but who's really thinking straight (no pun intended) with a bottle of alcohol in one hand and a girl in the other? At least she wasn't dating anyone at the time. That's not why she was currently bearing down on me like an angry bull, however.

She may have gotten a bit upset when I hooked up with someone directly after screwing her. Enter Erstin. I actually feel kind of bad about this one. Erstin Ho is one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet, but she's also one of _those_ drunks. You know who I'm talking about. That guy or girl who takes a sip of alcohol and immediately turns into a depressed wreck? Bless their hearts, but damn they're tough to deal with when you've just gotten out from fucking some cuddle-crazed, drunk-off-her-ass straight girl.

You see, it turns out Erstin was a bit of a lightweight. She ended up pouring out her soul to some random girl she'd never met in her life about her unrequited love. Said unnamed girl decided she'd be trying to get Erstin to sleep with her as a way to console her. The blonde didn't much like that idea, but she wasn't really able to put up much of a fight because, again, she's a lightweight. I happened to bump into them while the other girl was dragging Erstin off to some random room to do what lesbians do.

I swear, if your first thought was, "oh, so you had a three-way with them," you're a pervert… but I like the way you think. No, I didn't join them. My sobriety came flooding back with frightening speed after Akane's bid for cuddling, so I was actually of the right mind to tell Erstin's captor to stop being a dick. A bit of yelling and bluster later, Erstin was a free agent, if not still totally smashed.

No, I did not demand Erstin to "thank" me sexually. Pervert. She offered. Or rather, after she thanked me and I took her under my wing for the night to stop anyone from taking advantage of her, she kind of… willingly "thanked" me.

For the record, I didn't jump on that one immediately. I kind of protested.

Kind of.

Yeah….

But that's all in past now. The current problem was now a few yards away, more intent on getting to me than ever before. I didn't even know the last girl, the one with dark, black hair. I later learned her name was Nina Wang, Erstin's now-requited lover. However, at the time, all I knew was there were four girls that could potentially beat me down within a short radius of my person, and I'd just hit my only back-up in the ovaries.

That said, I lied. There are five girls in my immediate vicinity who may want to kick my ass.

My life was flashing before my eyes as Mai examines my silent person curiously, apparently not at all bothered that my redheaded friend was groaning painfully as she struggled to get to her feet.

So what do you do in this situation?

You stand up and take your punishment like a decent human being, of course. Or… you can push Nao into them and run! I hope you all have enough faith in me to say I did the former, but if you really know me you already know I did the latter.

It's a good tactic. It gave me a decent head start.

Yelling and other such sounds erupted behind me, and I snuck a peek over my shoulder as I ran through the cafeteria for the doors. Nao was stumbling off to the side while three of the four girls yelled at me, all of them chasing after me. Mai, of course, was calling for me to come back, Akane was cursing me, and Nina was vowing to take me down for screwing her woman. As confusing as the last claim was, I knew if I stopped to ask I'd probably end up shanked in a dark alley.

"No running in school!" I heard Haruka's booming voice over the roar of the student in the lunchroom, and looked back front to see the Student Council President scrambling to get up as I neared her table. My eyes almost immediately locked onto ruby eyes next to the blonde.

I wanted to groan, knowing the red-eyed seductress had probably seen everything. If Shizuru didn't think I was bad news before, seeing a herd of very pissed off girls chasing after me would definitely be a big turn off.

But, instead of looking pissed, she looked utterly amused. She sent me a wink as I rushed by, watching me dodge The Armitage, and moved along her seat to get closer to the pathway on which my pursuers chased me. I had no idea why she'd done so until I reached the doorway and heard a yelp and someone crash to the ground. I threw a look back into the cafeteria just before disappearing around the corner, only to see Shizuru's foot tangled with Mai's, the latter sprawled out on the ground, as my other pursuers ran around her. Shizuru was speaking apologies, but the mischief in her eyes said volumes of her sadistic delight.

I burst out laughing as I tore down the hallway, realization hitting me. Shizuru Viola really _was_ jealous of Mai after all! The assistance paled in comparison to this realization of the woman's humanity.

Nonetheless, I'd have to _thank_ her later for the help.

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry about the lack of pervy Shizuru. You crazy kids can live without it for a chapter. I think**.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Yet another chapter that I redid more times than I would've liked. Sigh. Love to all of you guys, and I apologize to the majority of reviewers, who I have yet to reply to. I've got to admit, I've been a bit distracted as of late, and seem to have neglected you all. Totally my fault, and sorry again.

**To the anonymous reviewers:**

**beanzy: **My story rocks your cereal box? I've never seen that before! Hah, definitely had me laughing. Thanks for the compliment and the review once again!

**mD: **Gah, I'm sorry! I don't mean to be such a tease, it just happens! At least you liked the kick to the ovaries, so that's a bit of appeasement, right? Ah, and thanks for reviewing!

**Kitty:** Aw, thanks so much for the support, it's very appreciated. I certainly hope you continue to enjoy the story and like where I end up taking it in the future. Natsuki's so sure she can take Shizuru, but I'm not really sure if she's that able. We'll have to see, won't we?

**Ianey:** Aw, don't cry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to deprive you, I swear! Hah, though the fact that you're crying about the lack of smut is a bit concerning :P At least you're honest! Thanks for reviewing!

**flamefox: **Hah, well I hope this next chapter remedies that little problem, my friend. Thanks for the review J

**oo1: **Sorry you don't like clingy Mai, but I've got to admit I adore her. She makes my life so much more entertaining. But I certainly hope you continue to enjoy the facets of the story, and thanks for the review!

**chink: **Ah… sorry about that man. Like I said, I've been a bit distracted, as well as I've been writing more for my other story. I apologize for keeping you waiting for so long!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Mai Hime/Otome or any of the songs in this story.

* * *

It was the Friday of the week the transfer student had started school. Reito Kanzaki had decided to throw a party to start off the weekend that night, for no better reason than he felt like it.

If only we were all well off enough to be able to throw wild parties at our homes at will. Rich bastard.

The party was going along just like all the others: Teenagers being idiots, loud music blasting from a sound system worth more than my house, overcrowded hallways, and spilled booze on priceless, one-thousand year old rugs that I would've ebayed long ago.

I'd lost Nao earlier in the night. The redhead loved alcohol like I loved women, the only real difference being she didn't have sex with the beer bottles afterwards. That said, I'd decided to ditch her because she was much less tolerable in a drunk state when I was still coherent enough to realize that the lights in the pool weren't the headlights of a super-secret cop car bent on busting up the party.

To be blunt, I was in a bitchy mood. I wasn't partaking in much alcohol considering every time I let myself go I tended to screw some random girl. At one point, the screwing was the highlight of my night; with the appearance of one Shizuru Viola, the thought of doing so made me cringe. You heard right, after over a year of trial and error, I had finally figured out that I made bad decisions while smashed. You can applaud me later. The point is that I was realizing that drunk people were only so fun when you were still sober.

You know what else sucks? Drinking on an empty stomach. I'd only had two beers through the course of the party, so it wasn't enough to dull my senses and just enough for my stomach to let me know that I was a bitch. That was the reason for my current excursion: Find a snack table and raid it.

I shoved through the halls toward the kitchen, since common sense dictates that food would be in the kitchen. That makes sense, right? Put the food in the place where you store the food? I forgot that teenagers aren't dictated by common sense. There was just more alcohol in the kitchen. Whoever decided on the layout of the party was a dumb shit. I eventually found food in the backyard after plenty of stomach complaining and pushing of drunks. I grabbed a slice of pizza and cast a look around the backyard.

I saw some kids jousting from the backs of their friends, trying to knock their opponent off with a wooden pole. It seemed like a good excuse to beat someone, and I may've considered taking part if I didn't notice the kid sharpening the point of his pole off to the side. There were clothes and kids floating in Reito's pool (which was the size of half my house), and a cluster of kids dancing (read: fucking with their clothes on) on the lawn to music as it filtered out from the house. The most peculiar thing, however, was a concentration of people in an abstract corner of the yard.

I figured it was just Reito, flashing his money and his pretty boy smile to pick up some girls for his nightly orgy. He was more of a playboy than I was, and a bit of a spoiled brat. A killer smile and money to match? People threw themselves at him left and right. I'm not much a fan of competition, but he and I had an unspoken rival's respect for one another. That doesn't mean that I had to like him, though.

Upon further inspection of the crowd, I realized there was a surprising number of boys in the yard's cluster. While not rare, such a large number was not the norm in the flood of Kanzaki admirers. Who wouldn't be curious to see if Kanzaki had finally admitted to going bi? So, I naturally moved for the group, finishing up my slice of pizza just before reaching the outskirts. As expected, I heard Reito. I'm not much a fan of the sound of his voice, so I was about to turn in leave. A voice that made the words "candy-coated sex" come to mind replied back to him, however, stopping me mid-turn.

That's right. You know who was in the middle of that group now, don't you?

If you don't, you need to pay more attention.

The best way to describe what I did next would be "throwing myself into the crowd." Plenty of pushing and shoving later (and possibly a quick nut shot to one guy who was getting a bit too friendly) I was standing at the front of the crowd, to the side of my target (Shizuru, for those of you who haven't caught up yet), just far enough behind her that she couldn't see me. Might I add, I had a nice angle on her ass.

Seriously, that girl's booty is like "bam." It's damn hard to miss, let alone not stare at.

Despite my ass appreciating, Shizuru radiated an aura that was humorously regal, standing across from Kanzaki as the center of attention for a bunch of horny, sloshed kids. I wanted to growl when I realized many were ogling her, but I had to admit I approved of their taste when I observed how she looked and dressed. A purple halter top, cut to advertise her sensual cleavage and a teasingly-small amount of flat midriff; a black miniskirt exposed shapely, smooth thighs and high heels increased her already above-average height. She had a coat in hand, but it was obviously much too hot in the center of the mass to wear it.

She looked perfectly fuckable, and the fact that my brain was chanting _"jump her"_ as I took in her appearance didn't help matters much.

I couldn't really hear what Reito was saying, since I was on the entirely wrong side of the crowd to do so, but I could tell that slimy bastard was trying to put his charms to work on the new girl. His annoying smirk in place, he was holding a hand out to her. It hit me then that Shizuru was most likely the entire reason for this party. He'd probably met her through Armitage and decided to throw the party to impress her.

What a scheming little man-whore. Shit was not going down like this.

Then, Reito asked, his voice ringing clearly around the crowd, "Would you like to dance with me, Shizuru?"

Oh **fuck** no he didn't.

Shizuru looked down at the hand silently before dragging her eyes back up toward Reito. She made to speak, but I beat her to it.

"Hey, Shizuru," I said, trying to suppress the natural bark I felt come out in my voice from Kanzaki's question. I took a step out of the crowd towards her, though anyone with a little humility would've waited to be summoned. Oh no, not me. I was damn sure I was better than the black-haired tool trying to hit on _my_ woman, and I was just as sure Shizuru knew I was. It didn't occur to me it was possible she would reject me.

Surprised, crimson eyes turned towards me. "Good evening, Natsuki," she said, her voice sounding pleasant.

I wanted to let her know just how hot her voice sounded… _physically_. The only thing that stopped me was the ring of onlookers.

"Good to see you finally found me." Shizuru continued. I hadn't been looking for her, as we both knew, but the mischief in her eyes told me to play along. "I was just having a nice conversation with Reito."

"I can see that," I said as I closed the distance between her and I and slowly wrapped an arm around her waist while I faced him. "What's up, Kanzaki?" Murmurs sprang up from the crowd at my blatant decree with that simple arm around Viola's hips, but I ignored them, mentally telling myself the only people that mattered at that moment were Shizuru and Reito.

I wasn't exactly turned on when this confrontation started, but that changed very quickly. Shizuru moved into my hold and turned towards me, wrapping her arms around my torso and resting her chin on my shoulder, looking over at Reito with a smile. So why did that turn me on? Let's just say her assets are amazingly soft.

Hell yeah. Shizuru Viola, the sexiest woman on the continent, was pressing her boobs into my side and smiling about it. I could die happy. You should've seen the look on Reito's face! I couldn't have gotten a better reaction if I'd slapped him across the cheek with a handful of barbed wire. He looked totally dumbfounded, dropping his outstretched arm to his side in a hilariously dejected manner. He schooled his face quickly, however, because he had to put on his show for his fans. Heaven forbid their prince look beaten.

"Ah, I apologize, Kruger, I had no idea you'd already laid a claim on Shizuru," he spoke in a voice devoid of any negative emotion, save for an almost undetectable amount of chagrin. It was the sound of victory, and it was almost as sweet as Shizuru's voice.

Despite the elation I felt from his tone, for some reason Reito's choice of words rubbed me the wrong way. I frowned and replied, "I don't have a _claim_ on her." He obviously had no idea what was going on in this relationship. The claimed one was definitely me.

I was going to say more, but Shizuru never gave me the chance. "Thank you very much for the offer, Reito, but, as you can see, my date's here. If you'll excuse me, we should be going."

"Yes, of course. Have fun ladies," he said in faux pleasantness as Shizuru unlatched.

She obviously wanted me to leave, but I was too busy giving Kanzaki a glare to notice. I was laying down the boundaries now. Even if I had to maul him like a rabid dog to get it through his sex-crazed skull, he was not to touch Shizuru. Hell, if he even breathed her air again we were going to have problems. That was my air, damn it.

I felt Shizuru tug on my arm, and snapped out of my venomous thoughts. I took the hint and spun around, leading Shizuru away and through the crowd in search of an isolated spot in the yard. The ring of people began to disperse as we left, save for Reito's fans, making it easy enough to get away.

Okay, I didn't get to maul him, but I _had_ just bested Kanzaki. Shizuru was leaving that ravenous circle with me, not him. Man, I might've been the luckiest person on the planet at that point. It didn't much help, however, that the mental _"jump her"_ chanting had increased in fervor upon feeling her breasts press into my side earlier.

And what lovely breasts they were! They were flippin' huge! Like… if I threw a baseball at her just right, the ball could've gotten caught in her boobs' gravity and begun to orbit. And I could see her bra strap! Aw man, I was dieing during that walk. My body would spastically twitch in an attempt to overthrow my mind and grab hold of that strap to remove it. Self control was slowly becoming a more difficult thing to retain the more I was around the transfer student.

Thankfully, we reached a relatively empty part of the open yard before my hands went rogue and started groping my companion. Shizuru spoke, breaking the silence that had hung over us since our retreat. "You have fantastic timing."

Not able to stop myself from grinning, I replied, "what can I say? I'm awesome."

Shizuru allowed herself a smirk and up went a perfectly-shaped eyebrow. "Is that so?" The seductive tone in her voice made me shiver. She took the edges of the unzipped, dark-green hoody on my shoulders and pulled back the jacket to reveal the black tee, and my neck underneath. "It's too bad my mark is gone, isn't it? We should remedy that while you're proving just how 'awesome' you are."

Whow now. Natsuki doesn't like marks! I'd thought I'd gotten that point across, but this woman was obviously sadistic! "Or no marks and just lots of hot sex," I said quickly. Yeah, I know, that's a fabulous pick-up line. I'm working on it, okay?

"Who said you're making the rules?" Shizuru asked, dipping her head down towards my neck. Her breath ran across the bare, sensitive skin, and I couldn't help but shiver. She let out a deep, primal sound as she took in the scent of my neck.

Oh shit, she was horny.

Or maybe I mean: oh yay, she was horny.

Depends on your point of view.

Personally, I was pretty surprised. She'd been avoiding being alone with me since Monday, so I had no idea she was going to be so… eager. But hey, I wasn't complaining. Who am I to deny her what she wants?

A new song came on from inside the house, and I could tell from the devilish smirk on Shizuru's face as she straightened back out that the woman recognized, her face lighting up with epiphany. **(1)** I was mildly surprised when she started dancing to the music, but I couldn't say I was complaining. She was damn good with those hips, even if I was immediately reminded of that whip daydream that had temporarily scarred me. She closed the distance between us and wrapped her arms around my neck before completely blowing away my previous definition of dirty dancing.

She pressed her body flush against my own as she continued to sway her hips, causing a delicious grinding sensation. I stifled a groan that had built up deep in my chest as I felt the pressure of her body against my jeans. She suddenly dropped down towards the ground, her knees bending dramatically while sliding her chest against me. As she came back up, ever so slowly, she stared straight into my eyes. Call me crazy, but I swear her eyes were glowing. My breathing caught in my chest as she came back level with me. Sure, the woman's body is complete eye candy, but those eyes are just intense.

I didn't really know I was doing it until it was too late, but I suddenly felt my hands going to her hips.

"Dance with me?" She asked quietly, her gaze not dimming in the slightest.

I wanted to do a lot more than dance, but I couldn't say no to her. I found myself pressing my front against her back a moment later, our hips moving in opposing directions to the beat. The friction between us was tantalizing, and I felt my lower body light on fire with all the sexual frustration I'd been put through that week. My hands trailed up her hips to rest at her waist, causing her own hands to cover mine.

After awhile, I found the light brushing of our bodies to be too much of a tease. I pulled back on her waist, making her lean back into me and remedying the problem. I was expecting the change in position to make her lose balance, or at least break her cadence, but she did neither. Instead, she placed her hands on the outside of my thighs and began to go down towards the ground again, but this time she whipped her hips back in forth ever so slightly, going between not touching to light pressure all the way down. When she came back up, she literally ground her ass against me while she trailed back up, her hands going up my legs.

The visual appeal of her movement, coupled with the obvious physical pleasures of her dancing, actually made me moan through my teeth. She must've heard me, because she turned back around to come face to face with me with half-lidded eyes and a smile.

"Getting hot and bothered already, Na-tsu-ki?" She asked me, still dancing up against me.

"Not at all," I replied sarcastically.

"That's too bad. I was going to ask if I could remedy your problem."

As if she actually needed to ask.

* * *

**1:** How Low - Ludacris

**A/N:** Honestly, this chapter's a bit of a martyr. Since it's more of a bridge chapter than anything else, I temporarily sacrificed humor for sensuality. Why? It felt like it fit the chapter better, not to mention I want to gauge a reaction. I don't know how you guys feel, but the constant sarcasm that radiates off Natsuki didn't seem appropriate for the scene. Mind you, I'm just testing the waters for presentation, so if you guys have opinions on it, I'd love to hear them. Future chapters relating to… this… will be dictated by how you respond.

Hah, I feel kind of like an ass. I take forever to update and then when I do update it's mostly an experiment with moods and ends in another tease. Sorry about that guys.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Hi guys, remember this story? No? Well then I'd suggest you reread the last chapter till that light bulb of yours turns on. Allow me to extend my apologies for the wait, but there's nothing I can do to fix it now 'cept to post, right? I give a bow to the readers and reviewers as my sincerest thanks for your collective awesome. You guys bring a tear to my eye. And I apologize for any grammatical or spelling mistakes. I'm a lazy proofer.

**To the anonymous reviewers:**

**Grammerz:** Thou asketh for drunken Nao, and thou shalt receive drunken Nao. Sorry you didn't get your update sooner, but it's here nonetheless. Thanks for the review!

**mD: **How's that sexual frustration meter of yours doing now after a few months? Getting any better? Sorry, my friend! Thanks for yet another review, you have my appreciation.

**:D:** Hah, well thank you very much for the compliment!

**Oo1: **I'm going to stray a guess and say that when you ribbed me about taking forever for the smex, you didn't forsee the multi-month gap that was about to come! I'm sorry about that! Thanks so much for the encouragement and the smile.

**Q.T.(3.14159265...):** Your question (that question being, what am I going to do about Natsuki and Shizuru being horny, incase you can't recall) is not only an excellent one, but also one that made me giggle. Thanks for that!

**beanzy:** Ah, beanzy, my friend! It has been too long since last I heard from you and your rocked cereal box. Shame on me! Thanks for your continued support, you rock my cereal box too.

**Kitty:** Wow, that's quite the review! Not sure I deserved such a thoughtful and wonderful review. Makes me feel even more guilty about the updating gap! I'll admit I'm beyond pleased that you enjoy the stifling sexual atmosphere between Natsuki and Shizuru, it's pretty flippin' fun to write with. Now I just have to cross my fingers and hope that absence of update hasn't disillusioned you too terribly much from the story! Thanks so much for your review, it's very appreciated.

**mrs. flintstone:** Soo… I updated. Is the offer still available, or did it expire during the wait? I hope not, missed opportunity.

**cherry:** Man, I totally deserved that. I hope it was worth the wait too! Hopefully you'll let me know? Thanks for the prodding and the review!

**003:** It's always great to see someone with my sense of humor! Huzzah for like minds. Thanks for dropping a review!

**[To the reviewer who has a space for a name!]: **First of all, that name (or lack of) is cruel! Second of all, your praise is much more kind than your lack of name is cruel. Thanks so much for the review! (And I'm just playing around about the name, just gotta give you a hard time.)

**anon:** So much for the soon part of that request. Sorry about that!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Mai Hime/Otome or any of the songs in this story.

* * *

There was no way in hell I was going to go down on Shizuru out there in the yard. I had no intention to become a free porno for the kids at my school, or, heaven forbid, have them jump in with us, because that would only end in tears and castration.

We ended up stumbling into an empty guest room before going at one another like rabid animals. Cover your eyes, children, it's about to get hot in here.

After kicking off our shoes, Shizuru threw her coat on the ground and literally tackled me onto the floor. That's correct, not the bed, which was just a few inches away from my head, but the floor. Have you ever had sex on a floor? It's fucking uncomfortable. I wouldn't suggest it.

But yes, we're on the floor, and she just stares down at me for a few seconds, her hands on my shoulders. The glow in her eyes was even more intense then than it was outside. She looked like she was ready to eat me. Mmm boy.

That was a sexual innuendo, by the way.

I found it odd that she was just staring down at me, as if savoring the moment, but I was even more surprised that I was just staring back up at her, making no effort to speed things along. Some would refer to it as the calm before the storm.

Next thing I knew Shizuru was almost literally ripping my jacket and shirt off… simultaneously. I don't know how she did it, with my back pressed to the hardwood floor and all, but I damn well found myself down to my bra and jeans. She took a moment to take in this new view. From the way she licked her lips, I assume she appreciated it.

I finally recovered my wits during this lull and realized that shit doesn't happen this way. I am the fucking dominant! I growled and pushed myself back up to sit, and pushed Shizuru onto her back at the same time. She was surprised, but she still had the presence of mind to try to counter. My hands pressed firmly down on her chest. One practiced grope and her guard was shattered, with the sound of her gasp as the herald. She visibly fought with her body as it instinctively arched up into the hold.

Damn, why did this woman have to be so erotic? It wasn't lust, it wasn't desire, it wasn't need, it was life or death. If I didn't have her then I'm pretty sure my libido would've rebelled against me and killed my sorry, non-sexually-satisfied ass. Without a second thought I wrenched her top from her body.

I really (really) wanted to take in this new view, but remembering how such a pause had been Shizuru's own undoing, I didn't wait before diving down to give the bra-covered peak of her breasts some attention. I nipped at her nipple through the cushioned lingerie, causing Shizuru to gasp again and arch even harder.

Tactics kids, tactics.

Back clasps are the bane of my existence, and a back clasp is exactly what Shizuru had. However, with experience comes the ability to improvise. With her back decently off the ground, I had an excellent chance to reach around her to quickly unhook her bra. It was off altogether a moment later.

I tried to get back to business immediately, I really did, but I just couldn't stop myself from staring. This woman's bosom was _glorious_. I know how to increase breast cancer awareness, and her name was Shizuru. Save the ta-tas, man.

During my appraisal, Shizuru actually managed to get a hold of herself. I had no idea because I was stupidly observing her tips harden in the cold air. She rolled us over while I was distracted and I was soon pressed against the floor. Not that I much cared at the time. Her chest was still uncovered, remember.

To be fair, her boobs were big when gravity was pushing them to her body, but _damn_, when gravity was working with them… aw man. Superb.

I snapped my eyes from her breasts (barely) when I heard Shizuru giggle softly, followed by, "if I had known you'd like them so much, I would've shown them to you ages ago."

"Wha…?" Most intelligent response I could come up with. Her boobs are that great.

Looking back on it, being the person I am now, I would've been pissed if I were her, what with the idiot underneath her bumbling like an idiot from the mere sight of her bare chest; but she just smiled a little wider. "You're almost too cute to tame."

"Tame? I'm not a dog!" That was a proper way to break me from my stupor. First she's talking about breaking me, now she wants to tame me? What was with all these animal references, anyway?

I tried to scramble upwards, but my progress was stopped when her lips crashed onto mine. My head went back down just as fast as it went up, but I couldn't have cared less when it slammed into the floor with a thud. All I cared about at that moment was how great of a kisser she was. It wasn't much longer than a second before we were attacking one another's mouths with our tongues. Officially, with the tongue, she was now an even better kisser than a second ago. Every other kiss I'd experience felt wanting in comparison to what I was experiencing at that moment. It went on so long that I was suffocating even while breathing erratically through my nose.

Meh. Who needs air, anyway?

I may have willingly died from asphyxiation right there if not for a sudden banging on the door. Shizuru began to lift off of me and break the kiss to give the door a curious look, but I followed her up and grabbed her breasts (they were just begging for it) and started to massage them as I slowly pulled her back into the kiss and to the floor. She moaned through the lip lock, causing me to smirk slightly in triumph.

"Kruger!" Until that happened. "I know ya'sh in there!" Fucking Nao and her drunk, slurring ass. She banged on the door and rattled the doorknob to find it locked.

I finally broke the kiss and glared daggers at the door. "Fuck off, Nao!"

Shizuru likewise looked at the door before looking back to me and smiling mischievously. Unfortunately, I was so wrapped up in trying to kill the redhead, with my eyes, through the door that I didn't even notice.

"Shtop hevin' a damn pity party and hev shome damn booze, damn woman!" Nao shouted back. "Don't tell me you're masht… mashtur… touchin' yashelf in there?"

"Go suck a--" I never got to finish my statement, because a moan escaped my throat instead. I don't know how she managed to do it so quickly or without me noticing, but my jeans were now unbuttoned and unzipped and I was getting a massage through my panties.

Shizuru giggled and let out an, "mmm," as she looked down at my face, which I'm sure was a funny picture with my mouth open and my eyes clenched shut. I instinctively began to rock my hips with her hand, which only served to double the pressure she was putting on me.

"Oh man! Ya'sh not hung up on that Viola girl anymore? Shorry to bug." Her lumbering footsteps staggered down the hall, but I couldn't have cared less. All I cared about was that the hand in my pants had ceased its movement.

"Not hung up on that Viola girl anymore?" Shizuru asked me, her lips suddenly next to my ear. "Whatever did she mean, Na-tsu-ki?"

I groaned and opened my eyes, a frown on my face. "What're you talking about?" I hadn't actually registered what Nao said, you see. Like I said, all I cared about was that hand.

A gasp escaped my mouth when she teased me with a hard grope instead of an answer. "We'll talk later," she murmured.

If "talking" required us to stop what we were doing, there was no way we were doing this "talking" she spoke of.

The only thing that brought my free will back to me, in the end, was when she paused in her teasing to pull my jeans off my legs. I let her do as she pleased, considering that her body was slowly moving off mine in the process. When she was almost entirely off me and pulling my pants off my ankles, I chose that point to strike. I sprang at her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. I slammed her back into the side of the bed, so that she was sitting up. She let out a surprised yelp at the sudden move that morphed into a gasp when my teeth connected with her exposed nipple.

One hand went to give her free breast some company while the other went to unzip her skirt. My teeth freed her nipple only to latch my lips around it and flick my tongue over the hardened nub suggestively. She let out a moan and laced her fingers through the hair on the back of my head, using her hand to press my mouth into her at the same time that she arched her back. She was so focused on what I was doing to her chest, between teasing with my hand and tongue, that I don't think she actually noticed when her skirt came off.

I somehow managed to pull her up onto the bed, all the while not taking my attentions off her chest, and laid atop her. The moment her back landed on the cushioned surface, her hands were at the back clasp of my bra and expertly divesting of the material. I hardly noticed when the lingerie landed on the floor with a soft pat. I did care when her fingers were suddenly ghosting over the once covered skin, making trails of goose bumps wherever her fingers went. I wanted to groan when I realized she was purposely avoiding the more sensitive area of my chest, which made me realize that I actually wanted her to give me attention after all. So much for being an anti-tease.

When I finally did feel her fingers glide over my nipples, my mouth unlatched from her chest and let out a gasp and badly-contained whimper. A quiet, melodious laugh had her chest shaking slightly as she continued her treatment. I found myself frozen, as if I was afraid moving would make her stop, while I silently appraised her figure and enjoyed the sensation rolling over my body at her touch. Curiously, it was a sensation only her touch had brought out so strongly.

But back to that body of hers! Creamy, smooth skin on a soft body that wasn't entirely devoid of fat; the presence of it in all the right places made for a far more pleasing and enjoyable view. A chest that was a gift in itself and a waist that dipped in before flaring out into dramatic hips, with a delicate looking neck that just begged for attention. In fact, every inch of this woman just begged for attention, and I found myself more than willing to give her that attention. Now to just lose the panties….

But my arousal-intoxicated (and ever-so-slightly-alcohol-numbed) brain found a problem. This woman was so perfect that I honestly wondered if I was bedding an angel. I'm not terribly religious, but I assumed that God wouldn't appreciate me defiling one of his vanguards. So, naturally, I readied my body for the imminent lightning bolt that was to end me before I could go on with the defiling. My mental preparation was stopped short when I felt her teeth take hold of my neck.

Déjà vu.

I yelped and panicked. Not this marking bull shit again. In my frantic attempt to get away from her, my knee moved up, and I soon found it on the damp material of her panties. It may not have been on purpose, but she did make her hands freeze and her mouth unlatch and gasp. Score.

I started grinding my knee into her in an attempt to keep her distracted while I came up with a plan.

Ever tried to come up with a good plan when you're super horny? If not, I'll save you the trouble of finding out what it's like. All you can think about is sex. Doesn't help that the point of the plan was the end result of sex, but it was pretty fucking tough to creatively get to that point. In the end, I did the most indiscreet thing possible, I just removed my leg and quickly yanked the last remaining article of clothing off her body.

If I'd been in Shizuru's place, I would've been too busy regaining my bearings and panting to think to take advantage of the lapse. I underestimated her abilities. Just when her panties hit the ground, I found her fingers hooking onto my own and pulling them off. They hit the floor next to her own.

And we were both officially naked.

Since I'm so subtle, you can probably guess what the first thing I did was. That's right, the first thing I did was go for the grand prize before Shizuru had the chance to do the same. My mouth went for the nipple I'd had yet to taste as my hand reached down between the woman's legs. At the same time that the tip of my tongue was tracing around her breast, my index finger found her folds and began to tease them.

"Oh fuck!" She groaned as her body quaked.

I couldn't tell you how surprised I was by the sudden yelp. I was pretty sure that was the first time I'd ever heard her curse, let alone drop an "eff" bomb.

I realized then that angels don't say 'fuck,' and that was the moment I officially decided that God wouldn't strike me down for my insolence. That was the same moment I finally pierced her with a finger. The sound that erupted from her throat in reaction was an arousing combination of a yelp and a moan.

And now you wish you were me.

While I waited for her body to get used to the intrusion, I pressed my the entered finger against her insides, searching her until the erratic breathing coming from my partner gave way to a moan and her hips began moving ever so subtly. Double score, I'd found her g-spot. I shoved a second finger inside her and started moving the fingers back and forth with the rhythm of the music pumping into the room **(1)**, being sure with each dig into her my fingers pressed hard against the prize hidden inside her. I freed my mouth from her chest and moved above her to get a look at her in this state.

I had to restrain my jaw from dropping when I witnessed her skin beautifully-blemished by a far-reaching blush. Her lips were parted as she panted heavily, occasionally letting out a whimper or a moan to let me know when I was doing an exceptional job. Her chest heaved heavily and her hips moved in sync to my hand. Impulsively, for no better reason then to witness the reaction she would have, I slammed my palm into her second g-spot. The reaction was unbelievably hot, even though all she did was grip at the bed sheets underneath her and throw her head back into the bed to let out a gasp.

"Fuck! Natsuki!" When I felt her press herself down into my palm, I had a feeling she liked it. Call it a hunch.

I continued pushing in and out of her, though with the addition of a third finger and kept up pressure on her clit with my palm. It didn't take much longer for her moaning to become more common and her breathing to pick up even more quickly.

This wasn't a ritual unknown to me in any form. I'd felt the insides of a girl before, I'd heard my name screamed so many times that I'm fairly certain I'll never forget how to pronounce it, but there was something about that accented, passionate voice that drove me to the very edges of my self-control. Despite being the one in control, it seemed more like I was the one bending to the whims of the woman I was servicing, and she did this bending with nothing more than her presence and her voice.

And damn, even then, when I barely knew her, I didn't mind for a second the thought of being used by the rapturous beauty beneath me.

She finally hit heaven, heralded by a high whimper, followed by screaming as I felt her insides begin to violently convulse on my hand. I left my fingers buried deep inside her while massaging her insides, more so fascinated by the clenched muscles around my hand than trying to prolong her orgasm. At the same time, I pressed my body to her and wrapped my free arm around her, feeling her body ride out the wave under me with my chin on her shoulder. The second my body was against her own, Shizuru's hands flew to my back and I felt her long fingernails dig into my skin. Damn did all of it feel amazing, and I wasn't even the one having all the fun.

When I finally felt her body come down I pulled my hand out from behind her and removed my body from hers. She took a sharp intake of breath as my fingers came out of her, but was otherwise silent as she stared up at the ceiling, catching her breath.

"Speechless?" I asked playfully, trying to goad her out of her silence.

Her unnervingly-glowing red eyes moved to me and a smirk went across her face. "Natsuki must think highly of herself to assume so."

"With good re--" I never got to finish because a yelp tore through the statement when the sex-beast suddenly flipped me and jumped on top.

I don't know what deranged state-of-mind had prompted me to, up to this point, honestly believe that if I was the first one to be dominant she would just fall in line and reciprocate _submissively_. I was young and stupid. Very stupid. And I didn't fully understand what I was dealing with.

I _know_ now! I don't want to hear your mockery!

Her quick recovery and immediately-obvious intentions caught me by more surprise than it should've.

Shocked, the Natsuki was no longer the predator, but the prey. The very trapped and naked prey. In that terrifying moment, the Natsuki knew her fun was over and her taming was about to begin.

Poor, unsuspecting beast.

She started out by just teasing me, one hand on a breast while the other went down the explore the skin on the inside of my thighs. I tried my damnedest to not make a sound or change in facial expression; after all, that's just what the tease wanted!

I failed. Miserably.

To my credit, I probably lasted a solid ten seconds being stubborn and unresponsive, but it didn't take long for Shizuru to find a particularly sensitive spot high on my thigh to play with that made my wall of resolve melt in a cascade of gasps and stubborn growls. All my senses went to that hand on my thigh, so much so that I didn't realize that the hand that had been paying attention to my upper body was now gone. I figured it out a minute later when I felt my hands seized and brought over my head before a timely pair of clicks distracted me from what was going on down below. I looked above my head, and my jaw probably dropped at the sight of a pair of handcuffs snuggly wrapped around a bar of the headboard and fastening me very securely.

"What the _fuck_?" I yelled, violently trying to tug my hands free. Was this bitch _crazy_? She was seriously going to keep me down with _handcuffs_?

I looked to the side, having no idea where the hell she got the damnable restraints from, and for the first time noticed the coat she'd been holding was next to the bed. Seeing one of the pockets inside-out, it wasn't too tough to put two and two together.

Did she seriously have this planned from the beginning, or was she some kinky freak who carried around handcuffs for kicks?

In my indignation, I started to say, "you are going to let me out of these now," but I only got to, "you are--" before she'd silenced me with a lip lock. If there was any remaining doubt of the woman's ability to kiss from my last description, here's how distracting it is: I totally didn't care about the handcuffs anymore when we'd broken apart. She left me panting as she placed fleeting kisses and nips down my chin, neck, and collar bone. She loitered in that general area awhile, leaving me breathless and annoyingly sensitive, before I heard a mischievous laugh. A moment later she was making yet another attempt to mark me.

And this time, all I could do to try and stop her was squirm and growl. Needless to say, it didn't work. A few minutes later I was sporting a very-fashionable bite mark high on my neck and feeling sufficiently helpless to the new girl's tyranny.

Oh how thoroughly she had me bested.

But the teasing didn't stop there. Heaven forbid she give up her fun! One of her hands trailed to my inner thighs again, but this time it wasn't with the intention to heighten arousal, this time she just intended to tease me! How could I tell? Technically, I couldn't, but I know Shizuru (now), and I know that's exactly what she was doing. I tried to give her a warning growl, but it came out as a whimper instead.

Big mistake! The sound seemed to only spur her on as she let out a humming giggle before pulling her lips downward, completely bypassing my chest, to give some attention to my sides. The sides that she knew damn well were spastically ticklish! She enjoyed every quake of my body that came from her nefarious tongue, obviously, since she continued doing it for _far _longer that necessary.

By the time she was done, with the combination of her hand and lips, I was a submissive, whimpering wreck. If she had taken off the handcuffs at that moment I doubt I would've had the will to even move my arms from their upwards position. As such she met little reaction or resistance when she raised her body from mine and slipped further south. In fact, I was pretty oblivious to anything, save the fact that her delicious torture seemed to be over, until I felt a light stroke between my legs.

It literally felt like a bolt of lightning ripped through my body at the touch, and I couldn't help the sharp gasp that accompanied it. I heard her let out an amused laugh, and looked at her to see her staring right back at me, her face inches from my crotch. The smile that was normally gracing her features was taken over by a full-out, cocky, knowing grin. She held my eyes for a moment, then flicked her tongue out at my clit, sending another shock through me. I couldn't help it that the sensation caused me to throw my head back to moan, thus ending our staring match, but the idea that I'd just lost said match was completely forgotten when a rhythmic caress (because that's the only verb that can properly describe the way the girl gives head) grabbed hold of my senses and sent all my attention downwards.

She took her time, running her tongue over every inch of wetness, before finally coming to a stop once more over my clit. There she experimented for a bit, seeing just the way I reacted to different ministrations, before settling on one that practically drove me into the wall with unbelievable stimulation. It was so amazing that I thought I was going to go absolutely crazy. My body was twitching without my volition and try as I might, I couldn't muster my concentration long enough to stop myself. Shizuru's distracting that way. It didn't take the girl long to throw me to the brink, and one sharp lick was the metaphorical hand that pushed me over the edge. My climax came fast and hard, but not without a proper show.

My hands clenched at the rungs of the headboard while I tried to stifle the moans and screams that just wanted to tear my vocal cords apart. I tried to keep it toned down, but Shizuru's tongue hadn't relented at all, and, in fact, her fervor had only increased when she realized my intention to let it go in silence. She wanted to hear me, and I'd be damned if she wasn't going to work for it. It didn't take long for my sex to become _extremely_ sensitive, to the point where she was almost literally ripping screams from my throat. It was intense, almost to the point of being unbearable, until it finally calmed and stopped altogether. I slumped to the bed, gasping for breath and totally sapped of energy, with an amusing train of thought running through my head: "Single best orgasm I've ever experienced. Hell, it was the best sex I've ever had."

Shizuru extracted herself from her position and moved to unlock the handcuffs around my wrists. There, she hovered above me a few moments examining my person as she threw her device on the nightstand nearby. Panting, my eyes half-closed, I watched her bend to my ear and whisper four words: "Best sex of my life."

Wait, that's five words. Whatever, just _remembering_ that night has me all hot and bothered and not thinking clearly.

The point is that our thoughts were damn linear at that point, so I assumed we were still on the same line of thought when I quickly wrapped my arms around her neck and crashed her lips down onto mine. Considering the immediate, passionate response I got from her, I assume I was correct in my assumption.

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**1: **Revolver - Madonna featuring Lil Wayne (**Note:** Avoid the versus version)

**A/N:** So, as an attempt to alleviate your possible anger at my fantastically-long absence from writing allow me to present you this appallingly-mediocre smut scene! When I first started writing this (months ago!) I was dead set on making it fantastic. Then I failed. So this is what you get instead, my bad.

Many thanks go to **nate31** for introducing me to a song that I _finally_ felt fit the scene. My own music library is severely lacking in energetic sex music.

I wish I could tell you when the next update is going to be, but I really have no idea. I'll try not to have another three month gap, but I can't make any promises. It's a busy time of year, after all. Let me squeeze in one last apology for the wait here before you go, I really don't know where the time went.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Dis is another name for Satan, or, more accurately, it's a word that refers to the ruler of the underworld. That random fact will be relevant later.

**To the anonymous reviewers:**

**jellyy:** Hah, glad you thought the chapter was hot. I also really like the song you mentioned, thanks for pointing it out for me. Ah, and thanks so much for reviewing, of course!

**beanzy:** Of course I came back! You can't keep me away. Drunk Nao may be a divine gift to humans, because I think that woman is awesome. Add alcohol into the mix and it can only get better. Good to hear from you again!

**flamefox: **It's nice to be back, thank you (though I was never really gone, just not updating :P). It's always good to see you're still enjoying chapters after all this time. On that note, it's great to hear from you again. Thanks for reviewing again!

**mD: **I'm happy to finally oblige you. I know you've been waiting for that particular chapter a long time.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Mai Hime/Otome or any music in this story, and if Hyundai sues my broke ass for free advertising I'mma be pissed.

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Wow… where to start? I guess I'll begin by saying that carnal little night I just described was fucking _mind blowing_. Many, many times over. You haven't had sex until you've had sex with Shizuru Viola.

That wasn't an invitation to her, by the way. If I ever see you so much as touch that woman I will blow your goddamn head off. Just because she's the ultimate bedmate doesn't mean you get to find out the extent of her prowess. She's mine.

Now if only I'd thought this way that night, huh?

I hope you see the dark clouds on the horizon, because I'm alluding to them like a bitch.

You see, as perfect as that sexual experience was, a few things were stopping me from declaring her as my "one and only." Problem was, I didn't know what those things were. I ended up spending a ridiculous amount of time thinking about it.

I can hear your gasping from here. That's right, I do think, smart ass.

When you're done making me feel insignificant, we'll continue.

I have a couple odd habits when I'm deep in thought. 1. I usually don't move for hours on end. (Yes, hours; I'm a slow thinker, shut up.) 2. I have to chew on _something_, like a toothpick or a plastic tag. I chalk it up to my short attention span needing something to focus on while my head's being difficult. If either of these things is not fulfilled, rather than be constructive and figure out the source of whatever stress is actually making a Kruger introspect, I'll started doodling in the air with a finger or fall asleep… or something. I'm not a naturally introspective person, if you can't tell.

I ended up going for a run to try to exhaust myself past the point of thinking. Didn't work. Instead I almost got run over multiple times because I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing and thinking too much. No, I did not learn the first time I got honked at, thanks for asking. Not my fault that cars think they own the damn road and expect me to be on the sidewalk, not in their lane. They'll learn someday.

For the sake of not getting hit by a death machine, however, I decided to take a break at a park. First order of business was to find the water fountain; once that was completed I found a nice spot of grass and fell to my back, sprawled out and staring up at the rolling clouds, hands behind my head. I popped one headphone out of my ear so I didn't feel totally impaired and closed my eyes. The music from my remaining ear bud provided a nice anchor to the real world so I didn't totally float away with my emotions. **(1)**

I tried to work on the tumult in my head, but something was stopping me.

Pop quiz: What is Natsuki missing?

Answer: Something to teethe on, of course.

I ended up grabbing the first thing on hand, a blade of grass, and chewing on it thoughtlessly.

More on that later.

I was thinking about quite a few things, and in typical mental fashion I thought about all these things for varying amounts of time without properly solving any of my problems before going onto the next. Needless to say, my head was a mess, reason being I was trying to figure out why I'd left Shizuru the way I did.

You see, the woman and I had crazed, marathon sex for a few hours; all made possible because, while Shizuru apparently carries handcuffs for any "just in case" situations, I carry lube. You see, lube is like a yo-yo; they both make for hours of fun and you never know when one will come in handy. Pro tip.

At some ungodly hour of the morning we realized that the music had stopped and the house was deathly silent, meaning everyone at the party had either left or passed out. There's a rule at the Kanzaki parties: If you crash at the party you have to help in the clean-up the next morning. When I clued Shizuru in on that guideline, we summarily decided to get dressed and part ways before the house started to stir. I walked her to her car a block down the street before leaving her. That was exactly wherein lied my problem that required all this thinking. First of all, I walked her to her car on more urge than out of any form of politeness. I never walk girls to their cars! Who did I think I was, Frank Sinatra?

Was Sinatra even a gentleman? He was way before my time, so I have no idea. Whatever.

Secondly, the entire walk to her car I had this overwhelming urge to grab her hand or her waist. I just had this built up energy in the arm nearest her that demanded contact. That sort of thing is like cuddling after sex for me, it's just not something I do! If you show affection to a girl after going down on her, she automatically assumes that you're interested in a relationship. That's a big no! The Kruger is a sex beast, not a chained dog! (Handcuffs not withstanding.)

If you can't tell, I have commitment issues.

Third, just before she turned to open up her car door, I felt another urge, this one way more powerful than the one to grab her hand. You know, usually when two people who are into each other split ways for the night, something usually proceeds the parting? Something _affectionate_? Perhaps like a kiss? Yeah, I felt the overwhelming impulse to just grab her and make-out with her against her car.

Missed Opportunity. We might've even had one last, steamy round in that gorgeous car of hers! Never mind it was dawn and any random passerby would see us fogging up the car windows. It's more exciting that way. I had been letting a lot of chances slip by lately.

But back to being innocent! My intentions if I would've kissed her at her car would've been purely chaste…!

Okay… you've heard too much from me to really believe that I'd ever be totally chaste, but my point is that if that kiss _had_ happened, I wouldn't have tried to push it further… probably. But let's be honest, if _she_'d started pushing further….

Seriously, we're done with being perverted. Really, innocent now.

I'm hardcore digressing. All of that is totally invalid because I didn't kiss her. Back to that "affection after fucking is directly related to interest in a future with the girl" philosophy. I'd hardwired my brain into never doing anything that could be incorrectly translated into caring after a one-night stand. Too many bad past experiences. So I walked back to my bike without even so much as touching her. That was a damn disappointed feeling I left with, too. When I woke up in my garage in the middle of the afternoon that Saturday, I felt like I'd inhaled a lit matchbook.

Yes, the garage. Some people sleep with teddy bears, I sleep clinging to a motorcycle.

It was just that _one _night, I'm allowed to sleep with my motorized baby if I want to.

But yeah, that's what happened. Fast forward to the park where I'm still grazing on grass like a cow (granted, a really sexy cow). I was a tiny bit worried that this previously mentioned nagging ache was about as healthy for me as actually breathing in fire. After all, I was actually worrying over a _girl_, which hadn't happened in forever. I was admittedly the tiniest bit pissed with myself and Shizuru because of it. I know, that's totally irrational, but I wasn't being terribly rational at the time.

When I was finally done beating myself up over the whole thing roughly 36-hours after said incident, I'd learned that I was a damn coward for refusing to make legitimate advances toward Shizuru because of my shitty commitment issues. That realization in mind, I decided that I was going to ignore Viola for what remained of the weekend, then act as if nothing was different when I saw her at school that Monday; the same thing I did with every other casual sexual encounter I'd had before her.

Yeah, I realize I'm a coward and in order to fix that problem I continue to be a coward. Great logic right there. I'm expecting a call from Harvard any day now; they'd kill to have someone as methodical as me.

But hey, at least Shizuru tells me now that she thinks it's cute that I ever tried to fight the attraction I had for her.

Satisfied that I'd reached the right conclusion (yeah, right), I started to move up from my laying position. I became cognizant of my surroundings, and for the first time I really realized I had been periodically pulling up grass and chewing on it for God knows how long.

My cry of, "aw fuck," as I spat out the green lump had a nearby mother covering her child's ears and shooting me a dirty look. Not that I cared. My mouth tasted too nasty to care. Don't ask me what had happened to all the other pieces I'd chewed on; I don't think about it and I don't want to know. It was really gross. I brushed my teeth for a solid hour when I got home.

Nastiness aside, at least I had fixed my inner turmoil, right?

Wrong!

The futility of the attempt came back to bite me in the ass Sunday night; that's right, only hours after coming to my decision.

I'm such an adamant woman when I decide on something. So admirable.

When I went to bed that night the anxiety and ache hit me with double the force. I already regretted my conclusion, and I hadn't even truly brought it to action yet. I tried to sleep and failed for a good few hours before I finally groaned in frustration and thrust myself out of bed and got changed into jeans and a tank. I scrambled out of my room as I tried to walk and put shoes on at the same time (never a good idea), making plenty of noise along the way. I wasn't too worried about my mom waking up-she doesn't sleep, she lapses into an eight-hour comatose-so I just ran down the hall, grabbed a hoody from the floor of the closet, and made straight for the garage, where my bike waited for me. No sooner was I standing at my bike than I realized that I had _no_ idea where Shizuru lived.

"Fuck. I'm retarded." Not that there was anyone in the garage to hear me, I just talk to my bike sometimes. Don't judge me.

There went my plan. Though admittedly, it wasn't like I actually had a plan to begin with, I was just kinda going with whatever urge I felt at the time.

Little late for that, huh! If I'd been working with urges to begin with I might've ended up having sex in Shizuru's blue Tiburon on Saturday morning. But no, I had to show up late to the instinct-following party

But back to the fixable problem, which was not knowing where Shizuru lived. This is where getting to know someone as creepy and informed as Chie Hallard comes in very handy. I ran back into my room, grabbed my phone, and called her as I dashed back out to the garage. It went to her voicemail after ringing awhile, but I tried again, holding the phone to my ear by my shoulder as I opened the garage by hand and started to roll my motorcycle out. After a few more rings I finally heard a very groggy Chie answer with a, "hello?"

"I need an address," I said. Natsuki Kruger is too busy for greetings.

"Who's 'I'?" She asked after a long pause.

"Don't you check your caller ID?" I growled impatiently while closing the garage.

"Maybe I'm a bit disoriented after being woken up at…" she paused, "why do you need an address at thirty to three in the _morning_, mystery person?"

"It's Natsuki, and can you just give me the address? Sooner you help me, sooner you can go back to sleep."

"What's stopping me from just hanging up on you?"

"Unlike Viola's address, I actually know your's," I threatened as I started to wheel my bike off the driveway and down the street. I wasn't going to start my bike anywhere near my house! Even my mom would wake up from the proud purr of my baby.

"Whow, you're looking for Viola? Why didn't you say so? I got her address ages ago, I've just been waiting for you to ask for it!" Chie sounded much more awake now. "What do I get in exchange?"

Some friends I have! Nao leaves me out for Mai and Chie demands payment for information.

"I refuse to dry hump my bike naked… again."

"But the first edition pics sold so well!" Chie protested.

Don't ask. I'm not inclined to relive that night.

"Name something else," I demanded

"Hmm… how about you let me-"

"And I won't let you borrow my bike to live out your 'sex on a motorcycle' fantasy." I cut her off.

"Double Damn! Am I allowed to ask for _anything_?" Chie whined

"Nothing to do with my bike!" I barked back.

"Fine! Be boring then!" A pause. "Info on what the infamous _Kruger_ and the highly sought after _Viola_ are doing at _three in the morning _would also be acceptable." She said it with a tone so suggestive that I could practically see her eyebrows waggling on the other side of the phone. Her moods get better way too fast.

"You're a pervert," I started, trying vainly to divert Chie's mind from the obvious answer. "I just need to talk to her." Technically, I was telling the truth. She didn't need to know about the back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back sex that took place Friday night and Saturday morning.

"You're lucky we're friends," Chie said as I heard background noise on her side of the phone.

"Am I really?" I asked myself quietly.

"What was that?"

"I asked if you'd found it." Lies!

"Yeah. She doesn't actually live too far from you," Chie remarked off-handedly.

After Chie fed me the address (and where to find Shizuru's bedroom window, which was very creepy), I bid her a good night and slipped my cell back into my pocket. At this point I was far enough from my house to start up my bike. The ride to her house was indeed a short one, and I decided if I were to do this again I'd just walk to her place. I parked my cycle a block from her house and walked the rest of the way.

"How did she find out which window it was?" I wondered quietly as I jumped onto the fence surrounding the Viola backyard. In my defense, that time I wasn't talking to my bike. I was talking to myself.

I'm not sure if going from talking to an inanimate object to talking to yourself is a step forward or a step back.

Shizuru lived on the second floor… of course; another reminder that God hates me. But her house was gorgeous, and huge! Landscaping was the picture of perfection, the architecture of the two-story home was classy, their garage could easily hold four cars, even the driveway looked pristine enough to eat off of. The only problem was that the garage door was cracked open ever so slightly, meaning they had an outdoor cat.

Fun fact: Cats hate me. Seriously. I had a bad feeling that the damn thing was just watching me from a tree or something, waiting for the perfect chance to jump onto my face and claw out my eyes.

I was so busy mentally bitching about cats that it didn't occur to me to check the backyard for danger before I hopped to the ground on the other side of the fence.

Maybe God doesn't hate me, but I guarantee you he has a lot of fun at my expense.

Seconds after my feet touched ground, I heard barking and heavy paws slamming into the ground. Fun fact numero dos: Dogs love me.

A giant, hulking mass of German Sheppard barreled full force into me, knocking me down to the ground.

They do not, however, like me much when I'm trespassing on their territory and their family's helpless and asleep.

Fucking shit, that thing almost tore out my throat! I literally had to hold the beast back by the _neck_ so that it didn't eat _mine_. I love dogs to death, so it was really hard to get the damn thing off me since I refused to hurt it. When I did finally manage to push the snarling, snapping dog off me, pushing myself to a kneeling position, I took off at a run across the backyard.

My first instinct was to jump up a tree, but since God's sense of humor is sadistic as hell, turns out that there are no trees in Shizuru's backyard. My oasis came in the form of a doghouse for the demon chasing me, and damn did that thing have a flippin' nice doghouse! I bet it had a king-sized bed and wall-to-wall carpeting and shit. I hopped on top of it with a single jump, thinking that I was all clever.

Yeah, apparently in Natsuki-land, dogs don't know how to jump. Not my fault I forgot I was in the real world. My heart might've stopped when I saw the haunches of my pursuer bunch up in the moonlight, and my folly became known to me in that moment. I did the first thing that came to mind just a moment before the demon jumped, that being I hit the deck (Doghouse roof?). To this day I can't believe that the dog missed me, and actually overshot me completely. It landed on the other end of the roof of its ridiculously-big abode, and before it'd recovered from the landing I kicked it on the chest. Again, I love dogs, and I don't tolerate animal abuse, but that was self-defense! I'd be damned if I let it tear me apart. As it landed with a yelp, I looked everywhere for a higher sanctuary. Lucky for me the doghouse was against the actual house; luckier for me the lowest part of the roof just so happened to be the part of the house that I was next to.

I scrambled from my prone position up to my feet and jumped for the lip of the roof at the same moment the dog clawed at the doghouse. I frantically pulled myself up, elbows on the roof, only to realize that the window on this section of roof had its light on. I froze, not sure if I should face death-by-dog or go to jail for burglary. I decided death seemed too painful when the demon-dog suddenly latched onto my foot. I yelped and tried to shake the thing off, but by then the damage to my time had been done, and my hope of escape from whoever was at that window had disappeared.

I desperately tried to pull myself up at the same time I tried to get the dog off, but my senses froze temporarily when I heard, "what in the… Natsuki?"

My eyes snapped up and I saw Shizuru at the window, staring at me incredulously. I just hung off her roof for a good few seconds, staring at her while her domesticated fiend gnawed off my foot. I heard someone banging around inside the house, which broke both of us from our staring match.

"Get in here, immediately!" Shizuru whispered harshly. "My father went to get his shotgun!"

"You're fucking with me!" I yelped, a brand new wave of adrenaline allowing me to finally move and kick the German Sheppard off me. I managed to pull myself all the way up just breaths before I heard the backdoor of the house open. While I was getting up Shizuru had pulled the screen to her window off, and I automatically dove right into her room. She quickly snapped the screen back into place after me while I scrambled under her bed to hide, just before her dad came into view.

"Is everything okay, Shizuru? Dis seems to think there's someone on the roof," I heard her father shout up to her.

Dis… what an appropriate name for a demonic dog.

"I've been at the window, father," she called back, "and I haven't seen a soul. Perhaps he caught sight of a rodent that scrambled up here?"

"Sometimes I really hate you," her father said, though from the volume I could tell he was referring to the dog, since he wasn't shouting to be heard.

"I'm going back to sleep," Shizuru called down.

"Alright, I'll be back inside in a little bit. Just going to take a look around, just to be safe."

Without another word Shizuru slammed her window shut and drew the blinds before crouching next to her bed to peer at me.

"Pray tell me, what are you doing here?" Shizuru was not amused. I shivered involuntarily at the glower those eerie eyes gave me. I'd have been pissed too, because judging by her heavy eyes and the sexy, lavender night camisole on her body, she'd been fast asleep a few minutes ago.

"I… uh… sleepwalk?"

Remember that one time I was awesome at coming up with excuses on the fly? Me neither.

"Natsuki…" She definitely wasn't amused. "Get out from under my bed so we can actually talk."

I really didn't want to! She couldn't reach me when I was under the bed, and from the seething look in her eyes, I knew out-of-reach was a good place to be. My brain was translating "so we can actually talk" into "so I can murder you with my bare hands," which is not something I was ready to experience. I stayed where I was a few heartbeats, looking like a frightened animal. Every moment I stayed under that bed, the chestnut-haired goddess seemed to radiate even more ferocity.

"Now, Natsuki," she ordered.

Deciding I hadn't escaped the evil clutches of her pet only to get killed by her for not obeying, I finally crawled out from under her bed, holding back a whimper as I did so.

Apparently Dis wasn't Shizuru's only pet dog.

I got my head out from the bed, and began moving my shoulder up and out; or started to, because just as my head came out Shizuru suddenly stood up and stepped directly on my skull, forcing me to stay down and holding me in place. I would've reacted if I wasn't frozen in fear. The sound of footsteps in the hall outside her room was what had spooked her, and it had taken me a few seconds longer to notice them. I was eternally grateful that I was coming out of the side of the bed that was out of view of the door when the portal opened.

"Is everything okay, dear?" The voice that spoke was hauntingly similar to Shizuru's, with the very same accent.

"Yes, Dis was just spooked by an _animal_." She subtly pressed her foot down on my head. I pawed at her ankle helplessly, silently pleading for mercy. I couldn't hope for any help from the outside party at the door, because the bed was obstructing her view of the scene.

"Thank goodness. The last thing we need is a repeat of last time."

Last time?

"Yes, I'd rather not have to clean-up the mess," Shizuru's foot relented, but only slightly.

Mess? What mess?

My overactive imagination played through a number of dead-Natsuki-dog scenarios that entitled a mess and a shotgun, and none of them were too pretty. Shizuru bid her mother goodnight, and the woman left. The two of us didn't move for a few moments as the footsteps faded down the hall before Shizuru finally decided I was a shitty footrest and let me up.

"The fuck did you two mean? Is your dad secretly a serial killer?" I whispered as I picked myself up.

"Funny."

"I wasn't kidding."

Shizuru sighed and rubbed at her eyes without replying.

To fill the awkward gap in conversation I continued, "though your dog has a very fitting name. Did you guys raise him with the intent of turning him into a rabid bear, or was that just fantastic foresight on your part?"

"My father thought it an appropriate name for a guard dog," Shizuru explained, still rubbing at her eyes. When she finally peered back at me she seemed to be significantly less pissed off, and was looking at me with the tiniest hints of an amused smile. "So you've trespassed on our yard, been half-eaten by our dog, climbed to our roof, and jumped into my window. I assume there's a reason for all this effort?"

"No, I have a thing for near-death experiences and I heard you keep a starved monster in your backyard."

"As you can tell, you heard correctly."

I rolled my eyes and shot her a nervous smile. Sarcasm could only go so far before my former nervousness started to creep back in. "I just wanted to talk."

Shizuru nodded and sat on her bed. "About?" She asked as she invited me to sit with a wave of her hand.

I blinked at her. At this point I wanted to take this relationship somewhere, but I wasn't sure where. I wasn't in love with her, but there was a lot of interest on my side. But did I really want to go through with this? What if I was just totally awestruck by the night at the party, and it was diluting my perceptions? What if Shizuru wasn't interested now that she'd gotten some somethin'-somethin'? What if after this stunt she thought I was too much of a risk to have around?

Fucking what-if scenarios.

Shizuru must've noticed my inner turmoil somewhere in my body language, because she very suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulling me to sit on the bed with her. I half-fell into place next to her, and had barely caught myself when I felt her lips pressed against mine. I'd wished she'd lingered, but she didn't, and pulled away a heartbeat later with a smile I'd had yet to witness. It was gentle and honest.

Probably way more attractive then the stupid grin that was plastered over my own features. Just that kiss was enough to calm me down substantially.

"Well I'm happy to see you, despite the ridiculous way it's come about." She went in for another kiss, but this one was on the cheek. "I'm here to listen to whatever you have to say."

And just like that, she had me. I was here, and I was going to go through with this.

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**1:** Break Your Heart - Taio Cruz ft. Ludacris

**A/N: **The music wasn't really necessary, I'll admit. At least it fits… more or less.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **Hey there, it's been awhile. I would blame college for my absence, but that wouldn't be entirely true, only partly true. Sorry about any and all mistakes. I was too lazy to proofread closely. In fact, some of it I didn't proof at all. I'm too fed up with the chapter to be bothered.

Oh, I would suggest that you reread the last chapter just to brush up on what the devil is going on. There are some mildly relevant details in that chapter that play a role in this one.

By the way, I can't really manage to reply to all the reviews I get anymore. It sucks up a lot of time from my day, and time is something I'm rather short of nowadays. My apologies. It doesn't mean that I don't appreciate every single one of you. If you ask a question or make it obvious that you would like to be replied to, I would be more than happy to do so. I just have a feeling that there are plenty of people who could care less about being responded to. If you are one of those people and have no wanting to be replied to, I would just like to extend my sincerest gratitude to you for taking time from your life to drop me a comment. It is a great compliment to a writer to know he or she has inspired comments from his or her readers, whether positive or negative, and you have my deepest thanks for it. If you do want a reply, just let me know. I'm always happy to oblige.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Mai Hime/Otome.

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You would think that a teenage girl would be able to confess that she might-possibly-conceivably-perhaps-maybe have a crush on an extremely-attractive individual without having to cause herself bodily harm in the process.

You would think wrong.

No shit, there I was: On Shizuru's bed, post kiss, feeling much more confident than I had in the backyard being chased by that domesticated monster; totally ready to spill my guts.

Or so I thought.

I was going to articulate this awesome speech. Some bullshit you see in those chick flicks about her personality (hah, personality; as if anyone cares) and how her mesmerizing eyes drowned me like two pools of passion, then, as all my love reached the top of my "love glass" and started to overflow, courage would fill my being and I'd not be able to stop myself from pleading with her to date me. With the unshed tears of newly-requited love brimming her eyes (like two pools of passion) she'd say yes, and we'd have crazy, hot sex in which her parents would walk in, but not stop us, and just hold each other lovingly saying, "aw, look at our daughter. She's so in love." Cause that's how confessions go, right? That's what Hollywood taught me.

As I was sounding the very first syllable, I realized that the world doesn't work that way, and I lost my nerve-damn movie land ruining my romancing. So, all that came out was an "aye~…" that was carried off into the corners of Shizuru's otherwise silent bedroom. Yeah, what the hell, right? I was having a bit of trouble telling Shizuru that I didn't just like fucking her _and_ being fucked by her, but I wanted to extend this beyond the fucking and perhaps have some more meaningful relations with her along with the fucking.

The order of events seems a bit reversed, doesn't it?

Anyway, so where does bodily harm come into the picture? Right after making strange pirate noises in my attempt to begin a sentence comes the part where I started punching myself in the forehead in some delusional attempt to knock what I wanted to convey from my brain, out my ear, and into her lap. Normal, perfectly-sane people do that all the time. Sadly, however, it didn't work. But it was worth the attempt, because in Natsuki land shit like that's a daily occurrence.

Deciding to focus on the fact that I looked ridiculous attempting to knock myself out by punching myself in the temple, rather than paying any attention whatsoever to what I was saying, I quickly blurted out what I was thinking in the basest words possible. "Sex was great. Wanna date?"

I shit you not, I said that. Smooth, right? Take note, Shakespeare, your better has arrived.

Shizuru looked… shocked. Which was scary as fuck. She didn't expect that, which meant she hadn't been thinking it, which meant she didn't feel the same way, which means she's gonna say no, which means I'm gonna get rejected, which means she's gonna throw me out the window to her dog, which means that I'm gonna be eaten alive, which means that I'm gonna die, which means I'll never be able to put laxatives in Nao's food again. Obviously, I know what's important in life.

"Sure…" she replied slowly, seeming at a loss.

Wait what? I wasn't being thrown out? And she said yes?

Yeah! She said yes!

Talk about epic confessions of love and adoration! Who the fuck needs to be eloquent when asking this girl out and being accepted required a total of six words. Fuck you, Romeo. Wherefore art thou fancy speeches now, mother fucker?

The words had tumbled from Shizuru's lips despite the shocked look on her face, and now I had a shocked look to match hers. Man, we're just a picture perfect couple.

"Uh…" so what was I supposed to say? I was expecting to have to beg and grovel, maybe give her a nice hand job before tearing a yes from her. I was terribly disappointed there appeared to be no need for a hand job. "Great!" Jesus, I'm just a wordsmith.

"But…" Shizuru began.

Oh damn, a 'but'. She was about to demand I stop riding my motorcycle because it's too "dangerous" or tell me I had to meet her parents now. Maybe that hand job would be a necessity after all. They've been excellent for getting me out of the shit I don't wanna do in the past.

"There is a little problem…" she continued

I barely suppressed a sigh as I rolled up my sleeve and flexed my "pleasuring fingers". Might as well get ready.

"Your life might be in mortal danger."

Wait… what?

"…The fuck… do you mean… my life might be in mortal danger?" I asked slowly, mid finger-flex.

She was kidding, right? She had to be kidding. That's ridiculous.

The look in those red eyes was dead serious. She wasn't kidding.

So what do I say? The most sarcastic thing I can come up with. "Don't tell me, I saw this movie. I have to go out to sea and get captured by pirates, come back years later, save you from a midget and his two cronies, fight off a mutated rat while you stand there and look scared and be useless, get tortured and pretty much die in the dungeon-stump of an old tree, get revived, then rescue you again from a crazy king dude before we can ride off into the sunset and make out?"

Shizuru lifted a brow and looked at me, trying to hide her amusement behind her annoyance.

"Off the mark?" I asked

"Do me a favor and just shut up for a few seconds," she replied, though the bite was stolen by her smile.

"Yes ma'am."

"I would've told you earlier," Shizuru explained evenly, straightening her face now that I'd finally dammed my endless flow of sarcasm, "but I honestly didn't expect you to confess to me so quickly. I took you to be more emotionally dense than this."

"…Thanks for that." Though if I was being honest with myself she wasn't far off the mark. Not that I was being honest with myself at the time. Seemed as if there would be no hand jobs tonight. Reluctantly, I put my weapons of mass destruction (read: my fingers) away. I can only stop my snide remarks for so long, however, so I continued, "okay, rock my world. What's the deal? Are sparkly vampires chasing you cause you smell pretty? Am I expected to turn into a big hunky werewolf and fight them off?" Well, she _does _smell good and I am pretty hunky, so that wasn't entirely out of the question.

Ruby eyes took on a distant look and started to ever so subtly twinkle.

"Oh god, don't tell me you read those books," I groaned.

"I've… dabbled."

"You're into bestiality, aren't you?" I asked.

"Just because I think Natsuki would be irresistible as a werewolf doesn't mean I'm into animals. It just means you would have fantastic abs," Shizuru shot back, a smile on her face. "I would refuse to bed you unless you were a human. I don't even know the first thing about the female wolf anatomy, it would be exceedingly difficult to please you."

"Hey, I have great abs! And a great anatomy!" Cause that made sense. Go me.

"Yes, you do," Shizuru purred, her red pools darkening to crimson. Next thing I knew she was pinning me to her bed, her teeth grazing at my neck.

Maybe there was still hope for that hand job after all!

Her nose grazed my neck as she took in the scent of my skin. I vaguely noted that the way she started to nip at my jugular reminded me of a vampire. But hey, if she wanted to do some supernatural role playing, I wasn't saying no.

She nearly growled after a few bites when she forced herself away from my very-welcoming neck. "As much as I would love to show you how well I know your great anatomy," she murmured into my ear, "this really _is_ important. Stop distracting me with this fantastic body of yours."

No hand job?

She got up off of me.

Damn it. No hand job.

I was severely disgruntled and groaned in disappointment as her heated body left mine. I wanted to grab her and yank her back down, but thoughts of "your life might be in mortal danger," stopped me cold. I was at her house… in her bed… with her parents only a few walls away. There were much more pressing matters to attend to.

Which makes it that much more hot!

As she attempted to get into a sitting position I jumped at her, and ended up tackling her back onto the bed. She gasped and fell back just before my teeth made contact with her collar bone. Her body let out an unrestrained shiver and she moaned out the pressure it created. It was delicious.

"Na- ah! Natsu… ki," she whimpered out as hands wandered about her body and teeth grazed across her neck, making little red trails to the top of a breast. Just from the way her body was hypersensitive to everything I did, I could tell she was as hot and bothered with my presence as I was with hers. "This is… important," she managed to protest. Seeing I wasn't stopping, she hissed out a strained breath before pushing me up with a sudden burst of strength.

To say I was surprised she had the presence of mind to stop me would be an understatement, and to say I was disappointed about it would've been a much bigger one.

"I said to stop distracting me," the seductress said-no _moaned_-as she sat back up, her chest heaving. She shivered one last time to get the last spasm of pleasure out of her body before putting on her game face.

Just seeing the way I affected her made me aroused. Why'd we have to stop? "Not my fault…" I grumbled out, pouting despite myself. I felt like the kid whose hand was slapped away from the boob-shaped candy jar. I _really _wanted to rock that girl. Her camisole was just a tad too tight and a tad too short for me not to be tempted to alert her parents of my existence by way of erotic screams and banging of the headboard against the wall.

Deciding that the sooner we finished with her foreboding warning, the sooner we got it on (because I was getting it on with her tonight, damn it), Shizuru shifted away from me to sit more comfortably on the bed and faced me. Her eyes stared into mine with such an undressing look that I vaguely wondered if she was actually still on top of me, and not sitting across the bed. I shifted up into a sitting position and nearly sighed when I realized that she was indeed off me. As my attention went back to her, she began. "There's this crazy girl-"

"Mai crazy?" I interrupted, suddenly _very_ afraid.

"Beyond Mai crazy."

I grimaced. "There's that much crazy in the world?"

"Just you wait. You'll meet her, I'm quite sure."

"I'm not sure I can handle that much crazy in my life."

"Do you ever want to have sex again?"

Most ridiculous question I've ever heard, "like a drag queen wants glitter."

"Then I have a feeling you'll have to do much more than 'handle' her." She remarked blandly. "Her name is Tomoe Marguerite, and she's been stalking me for four years now. She has chased off or mortally wounded roughly 45 of my possible suitors. Thankfully, she's not in the area… as far as I know, but I wouldn't put it past her to run away from home to come find me."

"Uh…" there was only one thing that stood out to me in that whole warning. "You've had 45 suitors?"

"Natsuki! Mortally wounded! Did you hear nothing?"

"I did, I did! It's just that this Marguerite chick can't be that bad. I think you're exaggerating a bit."

"She's the reason we moved here…"

"Oh… well that happens all the time. Bullies and shit like that, you know?"

"Natsuki… she's also the reason why we own a genetically enhanced dog and a shotgun…. We moved because those things didn't work."

I knew there was something unnatural about that dog! "Doesn't the government give out restraining orders for this sort of thing?" I asked.

"I have one…."

"Oh, perfect. Problem solved."

"I woke up one morning to find the paper in ashes."

"…It could've spontaneously combusted."

"The ashes were arranged into a heart shape."

A very long pause. "Wind," I proposed. "A very creepy, stalkerish wind."

"Natsuki…."

"What? She likes fire and knows how to break into houses. If you don't like shit like that then why the hell are you willing to date me?"

Shizuru huffed a sigh. It was time for her to pull out the big guns. "She thinks you're as flat-chested as a floor board and constantly tells me that your ass is fat and might swallow me up one night."

"That bitch is going down!" I roared. This means war! My ass is proportional to the rest of my body, and my chest isn't that small! It's just cause I work out! "Wait, how does she know about me?"

"Facebook creeping."

"Figures."

Shizuru settled back a bit, relaxing ever so slightly with the knowledge that she finally had me rallied against Marguerite. "Just watch out. She might try something. She always sends death threats before she strikes; I assume you haven't gotten any yet?"

I shook my head to the negative.

"Good. She doesn't bother you unless you get in her way. Unfortunately, just by being around me, you're in the way. A problem with her is immanent, but when it happens, tell me." She practically hissed out the next words, sounding venomous indeed. "I know how to handle her." Just from talking about the woman, a dangerous aura was coming off Shizuru in waves.

Damn, pissed Shizuru is hot. I nearly shivered at the tone and had to shake my head to get my senses back. That's when I realized that my pride was being inadvertently threatened. I didn't need protecting! "I can take her," I protested. "I'm not scared of some creeper."

The face before me flashed with something I couldn't quite place. I knew there was some annoyance there, but had I spotted a flash of… affection? She was about to reply when another voice cut through the air, stopping us cold

"Shizuru!"

Shit, her father!

I literally jumped a foot into the air and landed clinging to the other girl's leg like a wuss. That's definitely an image that inspires confidence. Didn't need protecting indeed, way to make your argument, Kruger. Apparently, I'd been too loud in my defense.

"I heard someone up there! How many times do I have to chase women out of this house?" I could hear the stomping sounds of the serial killer making his way up the stairs. At that moment I realized that if Shizuru's stalker didn't kill me, Shizuru's father would.

Funny how all my problems start with Shizuru and end with '-er'. Though the '-er' may be irrelevant… whatever.

But wait, this had happened before? Jealousy coursed through me. I thought I was the only one dumb enough to break into a crazy man's home to try to bed his temptress of a daughter! Damn it, there goes my originality.

"The window!" Shizuru hissed under her breath, already jumping to it and yanking the screen off with what I could now recognize as practiced ease.

My eyes narrowed as I scrambled up to the window. "How often do you do this?" I asked suspiciously. Was the player being played?

"Kick women out of my bedroom? Constantly."

I nearly growled.

"Kiss the women I'm kicking out goodbye?" She suddenly grabbed me by my shirt and pulled me in for a rough, quick kiss. "Never," she whispered against my lips and she pulled away. Her crimson orbs burned into mine. There was a silent plea that I didn't understand behind them. When she voiced what caused the trepidation in her gaze, I was surprised that anything but confidence could even take hold in Shizuru Viola. "You… still want to see me despite what I've told you?"

The stomping suddenly changed from the cadence of climbing to the cadence of moving down the hall towards Shizuru's bedroom.

I dragged her in for another kiss. "I wouldn't give up the chance even if you had an _army_ of bloodthirsty stalkers." I whispered after pulling back.

She flattered me with a awe-inspiring smile. And I put that smile on her face all by myself. Kissing her made me feel dumbly loopy. So much so that I nearly hit my head like some drunkard as I tucked out of the window. I heard a hushed, "good night," from Shizuru as she closed the window behind me. I waved back, a smirk on my face, before I began to scurry away. Sneaking across that roof made me feel remarkably similar to a rodent trying to avoid the cat.

A few seconds after breaking immediate line of sight from Shizuru's room I heard muffled voices coming from the closed window. I hopped up to the next level of the roof. It was just a few feet above the window, but it served my purpose of staying out of sight just fine. I didn't get up a second too soon, either, since I heard the window I'd just jumped from open and saw her father look around suspiciously a moment later. I ducked from view and held my breath, hoping that he wouldn't hear my pounding heartbeat. I could've walked all the damn way home by the time that mistrustful asshole had finally pulled his ugly head back inside and closed the window.

The mouse had escaped the cat, metaphorically speaking. Literally speaking, not so much. Remember the garage door left partially open? I didn't.

Shizuru's outdoor cat chose that moment to make itself known and pick up where the dog left off on top of that roof.

To my credit, I saw him leaping at me when he was in midair. I started to let out a denial in the form of growling, "fuck my life!" All I got out, though, was, "fuck maaaah-" before my head was buried in a frenzy of fur and primal hatred. Because who ducks out of the way of a threat when you can just look at it and drop an eff bomb? Another thing I learned from the movies.

I yelped and shook my head violently, trying and failing to dislodge my tormenter. Instead, it just made the beast latch onto my face with his claws and hold on for his nine lives. It hurt like a bitch. Feeling the pains of my failure all too well, I instead attempted to grab him and throw him off me, but he just bit my hand as I reached for him.

"Holy shit! If you have rabies I'm gonna be so pissed!" I barked at him as I continued to try to dislodge him and continued to be warded off by the threat of a painful bite.

After a minute of getting fucked up by a creature of roughly 15 pounds (it was a fat cat) I finally became so desperate that I stumbled into a kneeling position and rammed my feline-covered face into the shingling of the roof. The cat was intelligent enough to tear away from me a second before impact when he realized my intentions. I was _not _intelligent enough to stop my momentum when my vision was no longer blocked by calico fur. My face hit the surface with a resounding thump.

It hurt. I seriously thought I broke my nose. I just knelt there, my arms supporting me and my face pressed into my girlfriend's roof, groaning in pain for a minute. If cats could laugh, I'm pretty sure this fucker was rolling from it. I finally regained my presence of mind when I felt claws of fiery fury digging into my pants leg. With a yelp I scrambled up and, effectively stupid with pain, tried to jump around and shake my mortal enemy off my leg at the same time. You can imagine how my heart dropped when I jumped up and, upon "landing", when I expected to feel roof, I felt nothing but air.

I swear, the end of that roof just snuck up on me.

I flailed in midair, attempting vainly to fly, but silly me forgot to pack my wings. I always do that! Seriously, that was ridiculous. Why the fuck was I flailing? That's the last thought I had before I slammed into one of the hedges and rolling off it onto the lawn, facedown. I rolled onto my back and groaned in pain.

"That sucked a bunch," I informed no one in particular. From my position on the ground I could see the lip of the roof, and only then realized that the cat had released me just before I plummeted to my doom. There he sat, tail curled casually around his front paws as his plump ass sat on that roof. He looked down at me with eyes that bespoke of triumph. "I hate you." Telling him that was supposed to make me feel better, but it didn't.

The dog in the backyard began to bark, and I took that as my queue to get the hell out before Shizuru's dad found me and shot me.

I can't say I'm entirely proud to announce that I ran away from a fat, old calico cat that night, my tail tucked firmly between my legs. I am, however, much more proud to say when I collapsed on my bed, still dressed in grass-stained clothes, a stupid smile was on my face. After all, I was now a taken woman. Sure, I didn't get any that night, I thought, but there would be plenty of time for that in the future.

As I passed out, it didn't even occur to me that that had been a thought that toed the line of accepting commitment.

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**A/N: **Is that a semblance of plot I see on the horizon? Say it ain't so!

By the way, don't try this at home kids. You'd probably not walk away from it in as pristine condition as Natsuki did.


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